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Fall 2022

Ferhat Zerin

Principal, Gingko Planning & Design

Lecture Date: November 9, 2022

About The Lecture

Zerin is the founder of GINKGO Planning and Design which is a two-person urban planning company that works towards making “buildable” plans. Her work has primarily been on public sector projects both in urban downtowns and the suburbs and is committed to bringing quality planning services that prioritize long-term public needs over private interests. She is a strong advocate of bringing change to prototypical planning practices in the region, shifting from planning “diagrams” that cannot be built to viable “designs” that can be realized. She is also an avid gardener that we love!

About Ferhat Zerin

Ferhat Zerin, FAICP, is the principal and founder of Ginkgo Planning & Design, a woman + minority owned firm serving Chicagoland communities for over 15 years. As a former Senior Planner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Zerin led many major urban planning projects in Downtown Chicago and the City. Her work focuses on creating plans that reflect community vision, inspire local leaders into action, and produce real transformative results. She has led the capstone graduate urban design studio at the University of Illinois at Chicago for over a decade and is an avid champion for making design an essential skill in planning education and practice. Zerin became a Fellow of the American Planning Association in 2018 for her contribution to innovation in planning and design.

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