Prototyping Place: How Experimentation Shapes University City: A Conversation with Nate Hommel

The Commons · 2025-11-09 · 31 min

Episode notes

In this episode of The Commons , host Thomas Osha talks with Nate Hommel , Director of Planning and Design at University City District (UCD) in Philadelphia - a place where experimentation, partnership, and humility redefine what public space can do. Unlike most business improvement districts, UCD operates as a voluntary collaboration among universities, hospitals, developers, and neighbors within just two and a half square miles of West Philadelphia. It’s a compact but complex ecosystem - home to research towers and historic rowhomes, students and long-time residents, innovation and inequity - and it’s exactly that mix that fuels Nate’s approach to design. Nate and his team see the city as a prototype , not a finished product. Through projects like The Porch at 30th Street Station and The Lawn at UCity Square , they test ideas with temporary materials - moveable furniture, container bleachers, and pop-up decks - to learn what truly works for the community before making anything permanent. Thomas and Nate explore how iteration, listening, and trust can transform a construction site into a commons, a district into a community, and a set of buildings into a place of belonging.

More from The Commons

All episodes →

All The Commons episodes →