Eugenie L. Birch FAICP, RTPI (hon), is Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research, Chair, Graduate Group of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania School of Design, co-director, Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) and co-editor, City in the 21st Century series, University of Pennsylvania Press. Her most recent books are: Women’s Health and the World’s Cities (with Afaf Meleis and Susan Wachter) Global Urbanization, Neighborhoods and Life Chances: How Place Matters in Modern America (with Harriet Newberger and Susan Wachter) and Growing Greener Cities. She has been a commissioner, New York City Planning Commission and a member of the jury to select the designers of the World Trade Center site. She is currently chair, board of directors of the Municipal Art Society of New York and chair, UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Campaign.