A series of events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of MIT's landmark Department of Urban Studies and Planning will kick off with an exhibit in the Wolk Gallery, opening Tuesday, Feb. 12.
The show, "Changing Cities: 75 Years of Planning Better Futures at MIT," uses archival, graphic and multimedia materials to portray the evolution and influence of the department in academic and practical spheres. It will continue through April 11.
Over the past seven decades, the department has gained renown for pioneering new ways to analyze and enhance the physical form of cities; for embracing the social sciences in planning; and for expanding research to include studies of comparative planning and development practice around the world.
"Changing Cities" chronicles changes within DUSP as it has engaged with the scale and pace of urbanization in the larger world.
A daylong "Changing Cities" symposium, celebrating the 75th anniversary of DUSP and the 40th anniversary of the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS), will be held Friday, April 4.
A second exhibit, "Urban Design and Civil Protest: A Contemporary Meditation," opens Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Compton Gallery.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 6, 2008 (download PDF).
