TOPIC

Planning

A Bigger Picture

Piecing together land use laws from coast to coast, the National Zoning Atlas illustrates the need for reform.

Where Can the Public Bathrooms Go in New York City?

Creating 3,000 more places to go can be transformative for people's dignity and the quality of the public realm. But actually implementing a citywide restroom network requires solutions that address each neighborhood's specific needs.

Building Worlds In-Between

Navigating multiple identities, homes, and professional cultures, where can Black urbanists locate an authentic, creative practice?

God's Garage

It's complicated inside New York City's 99 cent stores, where creativity and exploitation coexist.

Turning the Tide

Where can queer and trans community flourish, if not at Riis Beach? Yet current plans for its future don't account for the people it has sustained for decades.

Well-Placed

Minding the Gaps

Historic injustice and the traumas of the pandemic have had profound impacts on New Yorkers' mental health. What kind of spaces and policies can support wellbeing where it's hardest to find?

Getting to Yes

Facing both urgent land use challenges and growing skepticism of public processes, a new unit for community planning is finding creative ways to engage people in shaping their neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

Flows of Mutual Obligation

Through a new, interactive podcast, an artist surfaces the intimate stories and complex connections that bind New York City residents to the land and people who provide their water.

Care, Where?

Public space may be essential to urban life, but its benefits are far from universally enjoyed. Could a municipal Department of Care bring context-sensitive design and services to every corner of the city?

Track Record

Like reading the rings of an old tree, decoding the perplexing last century of ridership on the Long Island Rail Road casts light on the development of both a transit system and the identities of the places it passes through.