November 30, 2012
The Los Angeles Times featured research by USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose and colleagues, finding that an earthquake shutting down water delivery from Northern California could devastate L.A.'s economy. "There are a couple of different ways to deal with this," Rose said, stressing the need to protect the California Aqueduct at its source and to invest in alternative water supply sources, storage and desalination.
November 28, 2012
USC Price School of Public Policy students who took part in the school's China Lab presented their findings to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Port-Cities Programme working group in Paris. The presentation explored the intersection of international trade, public policy and urban planning by comparing the impacts of global goods movement in L.A. with those of China's Zhejiang Province.
Nov 1, 2012
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's Noah Dormady, Adam Rose and Dan Wei in October received the first Outstanding Economic Analysis Award from Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). The award was given in recognition of their paper, "Regional macroeconomic assessment of the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan," published in the journal, Regional Science: Policy and Practice.
October 24, 2012
The Riverside Press Enterprise highlighted a documentary about the housing crisis, based on the dissertation project that USC alumnus Imran Farooq did while at the USC Price School. The documentary looks at ways to help neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures, following Farooq's community revitalization efforts in San Bernardino, Fontana, Bloomington and other areas.
October 16, 2012
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed Bonnie Reiss, global director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, housed at the Price School, about California's climate change law.
October 9, 2012
SmartPlanet highlighted an op-ed by USC Price Professor Richard Little of the USC Price School about the privatization of water.
September 17, 2012
Live Science quoted Price Research Professor Hilda Blanco in a story on the rapid expansion of urban development. "Urbanization has been neglected as a factor in deforestation and degradation and their contribution to carbon emissions. The projections are pretty sobering," she said. Blanco directs the Center for Sustainable Cities at USC, the story noted.
September 4, 2012
The New York Times quoted Raphael Bostic, professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, about the Environmental Quality Act.
July 20, 2012
The New Zealand Herald (New Zealand ) quoted USC Price Research Professor Hilda Blanco, interim director of the Center for Sustainable Cities, about California law regarding greenhouse gas emissions.
April 6, 2012
The New York Times ran an op-ed by Senior Fellow William Fulton of the USC Price School on whether Los Angeles should increase its urban density to be more like New York. "While L.A. is still fairly low-rise and auto-oriented over all, it's increasingly a place where you can live a more traditional car-free urban lifestyle," Fulton wrote. "New Yorkers may think that reinventing Hollywood as an urban center is nuts, but the truth is Hollywood already is an urban center."
March 14, 2012
U.S. News & World Report featured several USC schools and programs in its 2013 edition of "Best Graduate Schools." The USC Price School was ranked No. 4 for Health Policy and Management; No. 6 in Public Affairs, up from No. 7 last year; No. 6 for Public Management Administration; No. 7 for City Management and Urban Policy; No. 7 for Nonprofit Management; No. 9 in Social Policy; No. 12 for Public Policy Analysis; and No. 21 for Public Finance and Budgeting.
February 21, 2012
Matthew Kahn proudly calls himself a "free market environmentalist." During his recent talk on "China's Future Green Cities" at Lewis Hall, he explained the moniker as part of the Urban Growth Seminar Series hosted by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the USC Center for Sustainable Cities. Kahn, a professor at UCLA, began his talk with the idea that the world's population is urbanizing. China is following this global trend, with half of its denizens now living in cities. This has led to some widely recognized sustainability challenges. According to the World Bank, China has some of the planet's most polluted cities, Kahn noted.
February 13, 2012
The San Diego Union-Tribune ran a Q&A with USC Price Senior Fellow William Fulton about the "smart growth" planning concept, and noted that he was mayor of the city of Ventura.
January 7, 2012
The Whittier Daily News quoted USC Price Senior Fellow Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about voter attitudes toward redevelopment agencies.
January 5, 2012
Leaders from government, business, academia, media and the community recently met at USC to discuss the state's energy future in a forum titled "Powering California." The November forum focused on California's increasing energy needs, the viability of various sources to meet those demands and the impact of energy development on growing the state's economy. The event was a joint effort by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, The Communications Institute and Sandia National Laboratories.
December 14, 2011
The Center for Sustainable Cities, housed within the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, held its inaugural forum on climate change last month. Mary Nichols, chair of the California Environmental Protection Agency's Air Resources Board, offered the keynote address on the role of cities in mitigating climate change. USC Price professor Dan Mazmanian, director of the Judith and John Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise and a member of the executive committee of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities, and Con Howe, managing director of CityView and a member of the latter center's advisory board, moderated a discussion following the speech.
November 8, 2011
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development students learned about the latest privately built apartment complex intended for USC students as part of SPPD's Fell Undergraduate Student Conversation series last month. Con Howe, managing director of developer CityView and adjunct faculty member at SPPD, provided the details on the development of West 27th Place, which puts the luxury amenities usually reserved for apartments downtown just a short bike ride down the Figueroa corridor from the University Park campus.
April 26, 2011
Seventy-nine students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development spent their spring break working with government agencies, nonprofits or consulting firms through the school's Externship Program. SPPD's Office of Career Services matches students with host organizations nationwide based on their skills and interests. They work on substantive projects and gaining real-world exposure to jobs relevant to their studies.
March 23, 2011
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Gujarat and the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University in India to establish a long-term institutional partnership in education and research.
March 14, 2011
The Huffington Post featured work by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development doctoral student Imran Farooq, who for his doctoral thesis worked to rehabilitate an underserved San Bernardino neighborhood, utilizing local community vendors and integrating environmentally sustainable building principles. "My goal is to create a model of neighborhood rehabilitation, anchored around private partnerships that can be used to stabilize neighborhoods affected by foreclosures," Farooq said.
February 14, 2011
Los Angeles Downtown News highlighted a USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development event on the importance of public parks.
February 14, 2011
With the help of Keith Hwang MS '83, Ph.D '92, the Cheonggye stream -- buried for more than a half-century beneath six kilometers of elevated highway -- is flowing again in downtown Seoul. Hwang, president of the Korean Transport Institute, recently visited USC to give a presentation on the stream restoration and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Jack H. Knott, the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Dean and professor at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
January 31, 2011
Not many dissertations become PBS documentaries, but that hasn't stopped doctoral candidate Imran Farooq from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The media component of Farooq's dissertation has been made into SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a documentary to be broadcast on the PBS affiliate KVCR in April.
December 8, 2010
RedOrbit featured an upcoming USC Center for Sustainable Cities event, at which Daniel Mazmanian of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development will present a report on climate change adaptation.
November 29, 2010
The State of California's advisory panel on climate change adaptation, led by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Daniel Mazmanian, recently released the report "Preparing for the Effects of Climate Change - A Strategy for California." Mazmanian, the holder of SPPD's Bedrosian Chair in Governance, whose research and teaching focus largely on environmental policy, served as co-director for the Pacific Council on International Policy's Task Force on Adaptation to Climate Change and helped draft the council's 71-page report.
November 22, 2010
The Los Angeles Times reported that SPPD Professor Daniel Mazmanian was co-director of a new Pacific Council report on climate change, and quoted him about the report. Mazmanian directs the USC Bedrosian Center for Governance and the Public Enterprise.
July 23, 2010
New greenhouse gas emissions policies at the federal level could generate as many as 2.5 million new jobs and $134 billion in economic activity in the United States while keeping energy costs down, according to a new report from the Center for Climate Strategies published jointly with Johns Hopkins University and co-written by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose.
May 24, 2010
Eleven graduate students representing the various master's programs in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development launched the school's first student-adjudicated academic journal. The USC Policy, Planning, and Development Review, an online publication, aims to promote discourse among students of SPPD's professional degree programs by encouraging them to produce work that addresses important social topics.
May 16, 2010
The Modesto Bee cited research by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development graduate student Tiffany Chao, who produced a study with two colleagues on suburban infill development that included a case study on Modesto. The study recommends incentives for infill development as opposed to sprawl, the story noted.
March 10, 2010
The Center for Sustainable Cities and its affiliated Sustainable Cities Graduate Certificate Program have been transferred from USC College to the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, where it will continue to engage in multidisciplinary research and education on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges facing metropolitan regions.
January 15, 2010
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose and postdoctoral research associate Dan Wei have found that the implementation of the Michigan Climate Action Plan could do more than battle global warming. It could also give a much-needed boost to the state's economy -- creating a projected net increase of 129,000 jobs, a $25 billion net gain in the Gross State Product.
January 11, 2009
Peter Robertson was one of three USC professors who have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2009-10. Robertson spent four months in Brazil, where his research focused on the development of a network of people and organizations interested in promoting the sustainable development of tourism in Rio de Janeiro.
December 11, 2009
This fall, leaders from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development headed to Foshan, China, to foster dialogue and advance the school's longstanding commitment to global outreach. SPPD cooperated with the World Bank to create an "Urban River Transformation" forum hosted by the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development and Foshan Municipality in China's Guangdong province.
November 27, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little in a story about slow progress on green jobs in California, despite targeted federal stimulus funding. The real effect will probably be seen in the first quarter of 2010, as projects move from the planning stage to implementation, said Little, who directs the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
October 28, 2009
The USC Center for Economic Development was awarded a two-year $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration to broaden the scope of the center's applied research and outreach initiatives. The center is housed at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
August 3, 2009
More than 160 leading experts, ranging from USC faculty to government officials and business executives, gathered at USC to address pressing infrastructure challenges facing the Southwest Megaregion, which encompasses Southern California and portions of Nevada and Northern Baja, Mexico. The conference was part of an America 2050 forum, sponsored by the Regional Plan Association, the USC Bedrosian Center and the USC Keston Institute.
July 14, 2009
As the U.S. Congress considers enacting historic "cap and trade" legislation, a new book by research professor Adam Rose provides valuable lessons and reference points in evaluating the economic impacts of climate change policy. Rose is considered to be one of the preeminent scholars in the field, and the book - The Economics of Climate Change Policy: International, National and Regional Mitigation Strategies - represents much of his 20 years of research and involvement in policy design on the many aspects of the subject.
July 9, 2009
Congressional Quarterly quoted Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch about Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has adopted a conciliatory approach in order to push a climate change initiative. "She cannot do it alone," Jeffe said. "Rightly or wrongly - and there may be some sexism in this - Boxer doesn't always radiate the image of a team player. To be an iconic figure of the left and to be perceived as not being flexible enough to be a team player is not a good thing."
April 2, 2009
Los Angeles' "transportation transformation" was the subject of a recent panel discussion hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The event took place at the downtown headquarters of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was the third event in the SPPD Dean's Speaker series, which has focused on the revitalization of Los Angeles.
March 12, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Adjunct Professor Michael Woo about how rising sea levels could affect California. "The rising sea level could be California's version of Hurricane Katrina," Woo said. "Taxpayers and insurance ratepayers might question their responsibility to help homeowners and businesses which knowingly build in high-risk coastal areas," he noted. Woo is a Los Angeles planning commissioner, the story reported.
February 9, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the World Bank signed an agreement designed to merge scholarly research and specific program initiatives to address sustainable development in the East Asia and Pacific Region. The signing ceremony took place during a conference in Washington, D.C., focusing on challenges facing megacities in the developing world.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
December 18, 2008
Taught by Professor Daniel Mazmanian, a new class at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development gave graduate students an introductory overview of key sustainability issues along with the chance to meet with environmental policymakers, chat with "green business" entrepreneurs, and measure their own carbon footprints.
October 29, 2008
During an Oct. 21 panel hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said that the goal of downtown's revitalization effort is to restore "the excitement of an earlier time." The changing downtown landscape was the focus of the panel discussion, which took place inside City Hall. The event was part of the SPPD Dean's Speaker Series.
October 22, 2008
METRANS celebrates 10 years of research and education on metropolitan transportation. For the past decade, the center has aimed at "generating the highest quality basic and applied research," according to METRANS Director Genevieve Giuliano, professor and senior associate dean at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
August 15, 2008
Richard Little is among panelists at a conference on sustainability at Arizona State University, a story in the Arizona Republic reported. Little directs the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
July 31, 2008
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, was quoted in the Congressional Quarterly about congressional efforts to permit offshore oil drilling. Relentless Republican attacks on Democrats regarding the issue have hurt Democrats, who have been slow to counter them, Jeffe said. "It's interesting to me that it's taken so long [for Democrats] to figure out how to come back on this without giving in on offshore drilling," she said.
Imran Farooq DPPD '11 proved that he was ready for his close-up during the Oct. 24 broadcast of SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a PBS documentary based on his USC Sol Price School of Public Policy dissertation. The documentary -- available for 
Over the summer, dozens of students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy went the extra mile through internships and international lab experiences across the globe. Price students took part in
International labs in Brazil and China; worked with key organizations like the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Hong Kong-America Center, Shanghai Center for Sustainability; and interned at the U.S. State Department in Armenia.
A contingent of professors, researchers and alumni from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy visited Sao Paulo in August to participate in a two-day workshop on metropolitan development. The group from USC Price shared experiences and research regarding land use, transportation planning, housing, economic development and infrastructure with local academics and officials from the state government. The workshop was an outgrowth of Dean Jack H. Knott's visit to Brazil in December, when he met with Edson Aparecido, secretary of metropolitan development for the State of San Paulo.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's first two social innovation interns blurred the lines between local and global arenas by serving refugees and other residents of San Diego's City Heights neighborhood. The internships were organized and funded by the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation, which promotes sustainable community development in City Heights and underserved urban areas.
Laurie Nijaki, 26, earned her Ph.D. in policy, planning and development from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in May. But already, she's made significant contributions in the field of sustainability -- and has plans to do more. This September, Nijaki will begin a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, widely considered the most prestigious postdoctoral opportunity in sustainability in the United States.
Three USC Sol Price School of Public Policy MPP graduates will spend their upcoming year working toward a healthier future for people and the planet thanks to the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowships. Allison Kwan will apply her talents to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which aims to eliminate childhood obesity and promote healthy habits. Kerem Yilmaz will work for the Clinton Climate Initiative, which is currently partnering with the C40 Climate Leadership Group to help large cities reduce their carbon emissions. And, Kathryn Urquhart will also work for the Clinton Climate Initiative.
Faculty at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) between May 29 and June 1 to share their research on how to develop technically feasible, politically viable and cost-effective climate strategies. The event was coordinated by USC Price Assistant Research Professor Dan Wei and USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose in conjunction with the Center for Climate Strategies. CAG is a training center for people in public service who are in mid- and high-level civil service positions at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in China.
With more than half of the world's population now living in cities, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy believed it was time to address the challenges of urbanization. To that end, USC Price dean Jack H. Knott moderated the discussion "Cities of the Future: Community, Creativity, Culture and Technology" on April 23. The panel featured Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor; Hilda Blanco, USC Price research professor and interim director of the Center for Sustainable Cities; Hsi-Wei Chou, former governor of Taipei County, Taiwan; and Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, USC Price associate professor.
USC's Center for Sustainable Cities commemorated Earth Day with a forum to discuss the progress and challenges in meeting California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), key legislation that set an aggressive target of increasing renewable energy resources to 33 percent of total procurement by 2020. Energy company representatives joined academic researchers on April 25 for two panel discussions on how electric service providers will reach the state's ambitious requirement.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was well represented at the American Planning Association's national planning conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 14-17. To coincide with the conference, David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs for USC Price, edited the book Planning Los Angeles, published by the American Planning Association, using contributions from many USC Price faculty and alumni to catalog the history and trends that impact planning in the city.
Rapid urbanization has created a need for sustainable funding and financial strategy for infrastructure renewal in China, said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a seminar offered on March 7 by USC Price and the METRANS Transportation Center. In 1980, China's population was just 20 percent urbanized. Today, that number has reached about 50 percent. To support this unprecedented growth, the country has invested enormous sums to provide transportation, power, communications, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
Nuclear power produces about 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, and it's an increasingly important part of the overall energy supply mix. Still, the 2012 presidential candidates aren't likely to mention it during their campaigns, according to Detlof von Winterfeldt, professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, who recently completed a three-year appointment as director of Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, which explores issues of nuclear power.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) has a mission to "shape the world," and more than 60 students spent their summers putting these words into action in Brazil, China, Bolivia and Australia.
How can an online game educate Californians about carbon emissions? What's the best way for the California government to prepare for the baby boomer retirement? Can private canine companies provide an effective and reasonably priced screening method to enhance airline security? These are a few of the real-world issues that USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development MPP students tackled during the 2011 Policy Analysis Practicum.
More than a decade ago, when sustainability issues were still a specialized curiosity, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Daniel Mazmanian turned his attention to the emergence of locally-based environmental policies in several communities and regions across the nation.