Donovan Rypkema is president of Heritage Strategies International and principal of PlaceEconomics. Working at the nexus of heritage conservation and economic development, Rypkema has undertaken assignments in 49 US States and more than 50 countries. Among recent projects include studies of the impact of historic preservation in New York and Los Angeles, and recommendations for incentives for Modern Heritage in Abu Dhabi. He serves on the Real Estate Market Advisory Committee of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the Board of Directors of Global Urban Development, a member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on the Economics of Conservation, and the Advisory Board of Doh Eain, a Myanmar-based heritage development NGO. He is the author of The Economics of Historic Preservation which has been translated into Russian, Korean, and Georgian and the Feasibility Assessment Manual for Reusing Historic Buildings.
US Clients have included the Urban Land Institute, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, the American Planning Association, the US State Department, the Departments of Interior and Defense, HUD, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. International clients include World Bank, the European Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations Development Program.
Rypkema teaches preservation economics at the University of Pennsylvania where he received the G. Holmes Perkins Award for Distinguished Teaching In 2012, he was the recipient of the Crowninshield Award from the National Trust. The Crowninshield is the nation’s highest preservation award and is presented for lifetime contributions to the field of historic preservation.
