Round Table on Center Cities

During the Council discussion on safety last week, Dr. Anthony Tomazinis announced that his department, city and regional planning at GSFA, will have a year-long series of round-table discussions on the declining fortunes of center citieswith Philadelphia as a case in point. The program was created in partnership with other departments, adjacent universities and leading professionals in the field.

Starting October 23, Reversal of Fortunes will meet monthly through April, in lunchtime sessions with light refreshments provided. One object is to create a setting for free exchange of ideas on policy issues, opening doors for participation by diverse groups. Ultimately, the planners hope to initiate an agenda for collaborative research.

The topics and speakers in the sessions this semester:

• October 23: City and RegionDo Regional Dependencies Exist? is moderated by Ronald Turner of Penn city & regional planning. Panelists are Earl Baker, vice president of Mutual Benefits Insurance Inc.; Dr. Theodore Hershberg, professor of public policy and history at Penn; Chris Satullo, deputy-chief editor of the editorial page at the Philadelphia Inquirer; and Dr. Richard Voith, economic advisor to the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank.

• November 20: Why are Economic Activities Continuing to Move Out of the City? Dr. Tomazinis moderates this session, with Temple Sociologist David Elesh, Philadelphia Inquirer writer and economic analyst B.J. Phillips, and two Penn professors emeritus, Dr. William Grigsby of city & regional planning, and Dr. Anita Summers of public policy and management.

• Restarting in January, the round table will take up January 29, Crime: Result or Cause of Economic Decline?; February 26, Why Are People and Famlies Moving Out?; March 19, Reinventing Government on March 19, and, in a wrap-up April 16, Where Do We Go from Here?

Almanac

Volume 43 Number 8
October 15, 1996

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