Alan Razak, principal and co-founder of Philadelphia-based AR Spruce, a woman-owned minority real estate development and services company, and current Governance Chair of ULI Philadelphia, has provided a sustaining gift to ULI Philadelphia to continue its local UrbanPlan program.

UrbanPlan is a realistic exercise in which participants—high school students, university students, community leaders, and public officials—learn the fundamental forces that affect development in urban communities. In addition to experiencing comradery and skill-building, participants experience challenging issues, private and public sector roles, complex trade-offs, and fundamental economics in play when proposing realistic land use solutions to development challenges.

UrbanPlan is a globally used ULI curriculum, taught to over 60,000 students and 180+ jurisdictions nationally across 32 different markets. From critical thinking to industry vocabulary, this experiential learning opportunity enhances understanding of the land use profession and develops important skills that prime prospective professionals for success in the field.

Razak’s background in commercial real estate encompasses development and project management, finance, architecture, and feasibility/planning analyses. A ULI member for nearly 20 years, Mr. Razak continues to give back through his involvement. He is a leader in the push ULI has undertaken to become more diverse and inclusive in its membership and to take a leadership role in guiding the real estate industry to the same goal. He also serves as a ULI Global Governing Trustee and member of the national Responsible Property Investment Council. He has spent many years as an author and teacher of the ULI Learning professional education workshops, in addition to his role as a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design.

Razak donated as a philanthropic partner to the program by contributing through the ULI Foundation. This new pathway provides benefits for both donors and the District Council. “By donating through the foundation, donors receive benefits from giving to a charitable institution and the District Council can still use the money exactly as intended,” said Janice P. Periquet, ULI Foundation President.

ULI Philadelphia first piloted UrbanPlan in Fall 2019 to 18 graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, training a cohort of 25 ULI member volunteers to help facilitate the program.  After a successful launch and pivot to a virtual delivery in response to COVID-19, the program was then piloted to 21 community leaders in January 2021, which included Citizen’s Planning Institute graduates and Registered Community Organization board members. The initial response and feedback were extremely positive and resulted in a second workshop hosted in October 2021. With sustained interest and demand, the program will continue to run on an annual basis. The program has since expanded to include the high school and public official’s models. In July 2021, it was delivered virtually to City Council senior staff and later in December 2021, delivered in person to high school seniors at Girard College, a high-school specifically supporting students from single-parent households.