Penn grad assesses urban planning with a fresh perspective

While urban planning may evoke thoughts of linear cities, 2004 Design School graduate Daniel Campo believes we should “rethink the condition of vacancy” and reassess how we use urban spaces.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted an Urban Book Talk Monday night at the Penn Bookstore, featuring Campo and his new book “The Accidental Playgrounds: Brooklyn Waterfront Narratives of the Undesigned and Unplanned,” which developed from the dissertation he wrote as a doctoral candidate at Penn.

“Accidental Playgrounds” tells the story of the Brooklyn waterfront by documenting different stories of the people who used the site over the years, from skateboarders, to an “in your face marching band,” and from dog walkers to a starving French artist.

“What we think is marginal may not be so marginal for other people,” Campo said of his book’s message.

Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education and Chair of the Graduate Group in City and Regional Planning Eugenie Birch — who is also Co-Director of the Penn Institute for Urban Research — introduced Campo at the event. Having taught him during his time at Penn and serving as one of the three faculty members on his dissertation committee, Birch knows Campo personally.

Birch said that, before the presentation, she had not been familiar with the experiences of people who need space for unusual purposes, and stated that Campo’s work has “great value” because he makes “keen observations of how spaces that have been neglected can be used by people to express themselves artistically.”

Many current  city planning  Ph.D. students attended the event to learn from the experience of a veteran in the field.

“Professor Campo was also in the program [that I am in] and I came to see how research from a Ph.D. program could be received publicly,” a first-year Ph.D. student said.

A fourth-year Ph.D. student attended because he wanted to hear about Campo’s transition from Penn’s Ph.D. program to writing the book. He said he found the talk interesting, as it made him think about research in a broader setting.

Since his book evolved from his academic work, Campo’s talk was particularly relevant to Penn students. He stated that it was “great to be back where all of this research began” and said that Penn ultimately allowed him to run with unconventional ideas that “may not have flown at another university.”

Although his dissertation advisors were initially not happy with his field of research, Campo persevered.

“I had a passion for it, and so I made the case and was successful,” he said.

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