About the Agenda

Who We Are

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For nearly 40 years, the Urban Design Forum has shaped the conversation on the future of cities around the world. We are an independent membership organization that believes the design and development communities must address enduring injustices in New York City. Our Fellows are architects, landscape architects, planners, developers, public officials, scholars, activists, lawyers and journalists committed to building dynamic, equitable, and resilient cities.

Why Planning and Design Matter

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The most critical challenges facing our city today are expressed in the built environment. Central neighborhoods have benefited from New York City’s prosperity and its diversifying economy, world-class parks, and rebuilt streetscapes, while others, especially in communities of color, suffer from precarious housing, displacement, declining infrastructure, and poor public health. Our city’s recent approach to planning and development has failed to end homelessness, create enough quality jobs, fix public transit, or protect coastlines across the five boroughs. Although the de Blasio administration led with a progressive vision to counteract the rise in income inequality of the past few decades, we have struggled to define how exactly to achieve equity in every neighborhood. We believe that equity means every New Yorker has a safe and healthy home, a dignified workplace connected by frequent public transit, as well as access to well-built and well-maintained libraries, schools, parks and senior centers. We believe that equity means that a child born in the South Bronx, Harlem, Flushing, or Bed-Stuy sees the same educational, economic, and public health outcomes as a child born on the Upper East Side. As the Tale of Two Cities persists, the political polarization around our city’s growth intensifies. The City’s urban planning, design and development process has become more of a battleground than a tool to achieve a fair and just city. Without a proper vision of what good growth could mean, New York City will fall into a never ending cycle of conflict and inequity.

What We Learned from COVID

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The spatial injustice magnified during the pandemic has shown that economic and public health disparities are often linked to your zip code and race. Racist planning policies throughout our city’s history, from urban renewal to redlining, have shaped many of our neighborhoods to be ill-equipped to handle the crisis. In neighborhoods like Jackson Heights and Corona, we see how a history of overcrowding and a limited supply of affordable homes accelerated the transmission of COVID-19. In Brownsville, we witnessed how poor access to parks makes it more challenging to find respite and keep socially distanced. Across the city, we continue to hear the news of historic small business closures leaving commercial corridors increasingly vacant. The fear of permanent job loss and community wealth signals a massive tide of homelessness on the horizon.

Call to Action

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Planning is one of the most important functions of government, and we believe it is time to redesign the way we shape our city. We welcome the next mayor and City Council to ground their vision in three guiding principles. First, acknowledge and confront the race-based planning policies that have segregated communities by income and race. Second, consider the ways in which design and development can build and support economic opportunity for Black and minority communities. Finally, demand immediate climate action from every corner of city government since we have no time to waste. On this website, our Fellows share dozens of ideas for our city’s next leadership to confront the defining challenges tied to the built environment. They include visionary recommendations across seven defining issues to repair our planning process and produce permanent and truly affordable housing, a quality and inclusive public realm, good jobs, climate justice, and democratic representation in the planning process. The 2021 election is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to define a new plan for our city and give every New Yorker a voice in its future. Let's fight to get New Yorkers a healthy home, a dignified workplace, a safe commute, and a beautiful neighborhood.

Acknowledgements

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Thank you to our Board Members who helped to define our goals and our process with this platform. We are grateful for your leadership and stewardship over the last two years.

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Shape Shift Program Committee

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Beatrice Sibblies

Timur Galen

Alex Garvin

Paul Goldberger

Meredith Kane

AJ Pires

Weston Walker

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Thank you to all the 45 Urban Design Forum Fellows that provided helpful insights, case studies, and recommendations as we developed this platform.

Climate Strategy Working Group

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Ibrahim Abdul-Matin

Lee Altman

Sarah Charlop-Powers

Jalisa Gilmore

Jeff Hebert

Elijah Hutchinson

Daphne Lundi

Pallavi Mantha

Byron Stigge

Community Engagement Working Group

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Braden Crooks

Farzana Gandhi

Teresa Gonzalez

Priyanka Jain

Tiasia O'Brien

Andrea Steele

Design Excellence Working Group

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Koray Duman

Ishita Gaur

Beth Greenberg

Justin Garrett Moore

Jack Robbins

Wes Walker

Good Growth Working Group

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Caroline Harris

Asima Jansveld

Meredith Kane

James Lima

AJ Pires

Laura Wolf-Powers

Complete Neighborhoods Working Group

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Annie Levers

Michael Freedman-Schnapp

Moses Gates

Chris Rice

Marlon Williams

Elena Conte

Right to Housing Working Group

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Eva Neubauer Alligood

Alex Garvin

Bernell Grier

Brian Loughlin

Oksana Mironova

Traci Sanders

Pablo Zevallos

Working Neighborhoods

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Kei Hayashi

Oliver Schaper

Julie Stein

May Yu

Lourdes Zapata

Beatrice Sibblies

This program is made possible through the support of our Director’s Circle and Fellows.

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Editor: Guillermo Gómez

Editorial Support: Daniel McPhee, Kima Hibbert

Design: Partner & Partners