John Hans Gilderbloom, Urban Planning Legend

A Message from Marc Weiss, Chairman and CEO of Global Urban Development (GUD)

Dr. John Ingram Hans Gilderbloom, after a 37 year career at the University of Louisville (UofL) and his retirement in 2025, has joined Global Urban Development (GUD). We are thrilled. Throughout his tenure at UofL, he earned numerous honors for his teaching, research, and service, including the distinguished UofL Presidential Medal for Research. The university also commemorated his legacy with a permanent backlit portrait on University Avenue.

Dr. Gilderbloom has now brought the award winning Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods—along with its research grants—under the GUD umbrella. He currently lives and works near GUD’s offices in Berkeley.

Founded in 2001, GUD is a dynamic, results driven international policy organization and a global network of 1,000 respected experts across 65 countries. Its mission is to advance a world in which all people can live and thrive in harmony with one another and with nature. For nearly 25 years, GUD has maintained a structure that supports academic freedom and encourages solution oriented policy innovation.

Global Urban Development refuses funding from coal, liquor, tobacco, and chemical corporations—unlike UofL, which has attempted to obstruct scholars from conducting critical research on pollution that poses lasting harm to people, places, and the planet. To appease toxic, often foreign owned industries, university officials removed $20 million worth of federally funded research from their public websites. This decision has undermined Louisville’s prospects for genuine urban revitalization. Today, the new reality in downtown is a landscape of half empty office towers, including the once vibrant and iconic Humana Building.

Dr. Gilderbloom’s research on deadly pollution will now be securely preserved on GUD’s platforms, along with his peer reviewed articles, opinion pieces (in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times), YouTube videos, and films. There is hope that his research reports will eventually return to Louisville to be housed in a college, library, or nonprofit institution.

Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods (SUN) (https://www.sunlouisville.org) has joined forces with GUD to become one of the most influential policy-oriented organizations globally. Since its inception in 1978, SUN has achieved significant milestones, including:

• Legislative Advocacy: Successfully championing eviction protection and fair rent laws in over 200 cities and states since 1977.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act: Playing a crucial role in providing data instrumental in the passage of this landmark legislation and earning a medal from the Republican Congress.
• Community Development Initiatives: Partnering to generate nearly $100 million for the renovation of homes and neighborhoods, creating spaces that are attractive, affordable, and community oriented.
• Sustainability Leadership: Demonstrating that sustainable practices not only generate jobs but also cultivate livable communities.
• Public Health Advocacy: Raising awareness about the impact of urban environmental toxins, which contribute to serious health issues and can reduce life expectancy by up to 12 years in 1,000 communities around the United States.

Carla Snyder, Executive Producer of Climate of Hope and International Woman of the Year for Promoting Peace

Every film is a gamble, and only a rare few truly resonate with audiences. That’s why we’re thrilled that three time Emmy Award winner Chris Nolan has taken on Dr. Gilderbloom’s work as a project with transformative potential. Chris built an extraordinary career in New York, crafting more than a thousand advertising campaigns for major brands such as Google and Apple. He later expanded his creative reach on the West Coast, earning even greater recognition through his remarkable films and influential commercial work.

Film director Chris Nolan shared this reflection:
"Dr. John Hans Gilderbloom’s insights and research illuminate the heart of my upcoming film, Climate of Hope, a Mission Impossible–style story set for release in 2026. The movie follows two of his students, driven to action by his compelling book Climate Chaos: Killing People, Places, and the Planet, which champions hope rather than despair. After spending a long evening in conversation with him, I was struck by the turbulence he has endured because of his work—smear campaigns, threats to his safety, even surviving a gunshot. He reminds us that cities are not just static structures—they are living, breathing souls with dreams, despairs, and hopes. They are truly the future of the planet."

Dr. Gilderbloom is a legendary figure in urban affairs, shaping cities around the world through his work in urban development, sustainability, housing, public health, climate resilience, and transportation.

He served as an advisor to Vice President Al Gore’s White House Sustainability Commission and Livable Communities initiative. During President Clinton’s second term, Dr. Gilderbloom contributed to the editing of Clinton’s first State of the Union address—an effort that inadvertently put him at odds with Vice President Gore, who wanted to emphasize the hazy “growth of the information highway” rather than “growth of homeownership.” He was also instrumental in convincing Governor Brown to veto anti-tenant legislation and allow cities to protect tenants against unfair evictions and pass fair rent control laws.

Dr. Gilderbloom also crafted speeches, videos, and book introductions for Henry Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, advocating for universities to play a central role in revitalizing distressed urban neighborhoods. His career achievements earned him the American Sociological Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Urban and Community Studies, and he currently serves as Director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods.

Beyond his reputation as a leading urban planner, Dr. Gilderbloom stands out as a visionary dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions in an era of climate upheaval. He is the author of eight award winning books, including Climate Chaos: Killing People, Places, and the Planet. His influence extends across journalism and public discourse, with hundreds of articles, speeches, and op eds published in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Harvard Medical School Primary Care Review, and The Lancet, the world leading medical journal as a pre-publication. He has been featured on CNN and C-SPAN with President Clinton praising his work leading HANDS (Housing and Neighborhood Development Strategies) on revitalizing cities. Taken together, his body of work forms a powerful manifesto for the future of urban life—one that points the way toward a more resilient and hopeful tomorrow.

John I. Hans Gilderbloom is widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in urban affairs, shaping national conversations on sustainability, housing, public health, and transportation. His outspoken advocacy has earned him a reputation as a formidable opponent of the tobacco, liquor, chemical, and coal industries—opposition that has brought smear campaigns and even physical threats. He survived a gunshot wound from an assailant attempting to silence him, emerging with hearing and vision damage but an undiminished resolve. His influence can be seen across U.S. cities through the plans, policies, and progressive initiatives he has helped inspire:

• Since 1976, Dr. Gilderbloom has played a significant role in advancing and defending tenant protections—particularly safeguards against unfair evictions and excessive rent increases—in more than 150 cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and New York, as well as in the states of Oregon and California, both of which have enacted rent control laws. According to Planning Magazine, his research on the housing and transportation needs of disabled and elderly Americans helped provide the justification for Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. In recognition of this work, he received a Congressional Medal from the Republican-led Congress.
• In 1976, Dr. Gilderbloom worked with Leonard Weinglass, the attorney for the Chicago Seven, after the Hearst family sought legal defense for Patty Hearst following her involvement with the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and the violent acts associated with the group. Dr. Gilderbloom’s research into the FBI’s controversial COINTELPRO program—designed to disrupt and discredit leftist movements—helped frame Hearst’s case as a striking example of government overreach and manipulation. The circumstances surrounding her kidnapping and subsequent actions exposed the damaging consequences of this covert program. Recognizing the injustice and political embarrassment tied to COINTELPRO, President Jimmy Carter ultimately issued a pardon to Patty Hearst in 1979, and the program itself was later disbanded. This case underscored how unchecked government surveillance and interference could profoundly distort justice and individual accountability.
• On November 21, 1980, according to the New York Times, President Ronald Reagan blamed homelessness on rent control. He went further by urging Congress to block nearly one billion dollars in community block grants from cities that had rent control policies. In response, Mitch Snyder, leader of the nationwide Homeless Coalition, reached out to Dr. Gilderbloom to challenge the President’s argument that a free and unregulated housing market was the solution to homelessness. Dr. Gilderbloom, working alongside Dr. Richard Appelbaum, conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of rent control and found no evidence linking it to increased homelessness. On the contrary, their research showed that cities experiencing the most severe homelessness were often those without rent control. This compelling evidence ultimately persuaded HUD Secretary Jack Kemp and members of Congress to halt the proposed legislation, demonstrating that data-driven policy—not political rhetoric—was essential in addressing homelessness.
• Dr. Gilderbloom has shown a strong capacity to collaborate with non-profits, government agencies, developers, and financial institutions to create and revitalize attractive, affordable, and sustainable neighborhood housing. He connects these achievements to traffic calming strategies, particularly the conversion of high speed, multi lane one way roads into calmer two way streets that support walkability, cycling, and public transit.
• Dr. Gilderbloom’s SUN team partnered up with non-profits, developers, and government to renovate or build new nearly $100 million dollars in affordable, attractive, safe, and loveable homes in Louisville, Covington, and Newport—all featured in his book Invisible Cities.
• Dr. Gilderbloom promotes neighborhood revitalization by empowering grassroots residents to create more livable communities—cleaning up graffiti and litter, and using vibrant chromatic colors to accentuate architectural details, as explored in his book Chromatic Homes: The Joy of Color in Historic Places.
• He is currently a Fellow at Scholar’s Strategy Network, started by Harvard Professor.
• Dr. Gilderbloom was an effective advocate for ending the U.S. Embargo of Cuba, testifying in the US Senate. The State Department asked him visit Venezuela, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Russia on a friendship speaking tour of hostile countries to the U.S.
• Dr. Gilderbloom’s research has encouraged cities to take a more active role in reducing air, water, and ground pollution, which will improve lifespan, prosperity, housing, and health.
• Dr. Gilderbloom was a professor for 37 years in the Planning, Public Administration, Public Health, and Urban Affairs program at the University of Louisville, where he also directed the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods. Before that, he taught at three other universities: University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; and University of Houston. He will soon start teaching again via Zoom.
• Since earning his Ph.D., Gilderbloom’s research in urban sustainability has appeared in eight books, several edited books and journals, 70 scholarly peer-reviewed journals, 30 chapters in edited books, 11 monographs, and 31 opinion pieces in newspapers and magazines. The New York Times (as well as other newspapers in the Netherlands, Japan, and Russia) ran a Sunday feature of his work on renewing neglected neighborhoods.)
• He was ranked as one of the top urban thinkers in the world by Planetizen.
• He served on the Board of Directors of the Neighborhood Development Corp for 20 years, focusing on renovation of historic homes in West Louisville.
• He served as a consultant for Presidents (Bush, Clinton and Obama), Mayors (Bernie Sanders, Jerry Abramson), Senators (McConnell, Schumer), Governors (Jerry Brown, Andrew Cuomo) and Secretaries of HUD (Cuomo, Cisneros).
• He has consulted with the mayors of Moscow, Russia; Havana, Cuba; San José, Costa Rica; Melbourne, Australia; and numerous U.S. cities, including Burlington, Houston, Newport, Louisville, Newark, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Chicago. His expertise has been sought by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration, as well as by figures such as the late gay rights leader Harvey Milk, Burlington Mayor and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Martin Luther King III, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Charles Schumer, and Don Terner, a senior U.S. advisor to President Nelson Mandela on housing policy. In the course of this work, he also discovered that several members of his own family had lived under the brutal system of apartheid.
• He restored a neglected Butterfly Garden outside the Louisville Zoo to honor children whose lives were cut short by cancer, substance-related tragedies, gun violence, accidents, and other causes. He raised thousands of dollars to commission a striking stone butterfly for the site and to install 558 memorial bricks, each bearing the name of someone lost. The garden serves as a place of healing, reminding those who grieve that they do not walk alone.
• Beginning in 1992, under the mentorship of Marilyn Melkonian, I developed a vision for creating attractive, affordable, civil, colorful, and lovable homes. Starting in Washington, D.C., and Louisville’s City View, this work ultimately resulted in the construction of 16,258 homes in ten states, representing $2.6 billion in development. President Clinton recognized this community development work, sought my input for the State of the Union Address, and I was later hired by Secretaries Cuomo and Cisneros, along with an economist, helping to create 44,200 well-paying jobs in construction, plumbing, electrical work, roofing, masonry, and landscaping.
• During my years at the University of Louisville, I also led the Department of Urban and Public Affairs in placing more professors—12 in total—into leadership roles around the world than any comparable department, including positions in top government agencies and the private sector.

View complete curriculum vitae here.