Center City Digest

Center City Digest is the quarterly newsletter of the Center City District and Central Philadelphia Development Corporation. Below is an excerpt from CCD President & CEO Prema Katari Gupta’s introductory letter.

The Summer That Was a Test Kitchen

Every so often, a city is offered an occasion big enough to justify trying things it’s already been curious about. This summer, Philadelphia got such an opportunity, between the FIFA World Cup, MLB AllStar Week, and the Semiquincentennial. At Center City District, our team took this opportunity and ran with it.

Between a weekday version of Open Streets in Midtown Village, a pilot of the downtown wayfinding system we are building, and a pop-up retail and public art initiative activating vacant Market East storefronts, our team conducted many live experiments. I’m proud of all of it, and proud of how thoughtful and iterative our organization’s approach to improving downtown has become.

For the full essay, read or download the fall 2026 Center City Digest newsletter below.