Shin-pei Tsay describes how a group of volunteer urban planners collaborated to help local stakeholders argue for road safety improvements to Queens Boulevard and to redefine how planners can engage directly with communities.

Tyler Caruso and Erik Facteau explain their scientific study of the value of urban farms, an effort to produce hard data that can challenge nay-sayers and inform policies and regulations that support agriculture in the city.

The founder and the director of an organization that revitalizes neighborhoods by curating exhibitions in empty spaces discuss their process of transforming a Bronx landmark into a temporary venue for contemporary art.

Peter Syrett introduces Transparency, an online database of the health effects of building materials, and reflects on architectural responsibility, scientific uncertainty and buildings as instruments of public health.

Laurie Hawkinson shares student work and discusses the meanings of ‘speculation’, collaborations between architecture and real estate students, and the return of big ideas.

Two of the co-founders of an innovative “video map” of New York discuss personal expression, urban exploration and the civic possibilities of video.

David Vega-Barachowitz investigates the policies, stakeholders and theories that have historically shaped street design standards in the US, and calls on designers to rethink how we share and use our roads.

Landscape designer David Seiter champions the ecological and aesthetic benefits of informal plants – weeds – in urban space, and catalogues the uses and cultural significance of New York’s native flora.

Curator Deborah Wye explains how the Orchard Beach Pavilion inspired her to research and present the building’s history, to advocate for its preservation and to explore the city through some of its neglected civic architecture.