Environment
Reciprocal City
Awnings, cisterns, and icehouses — defunct minor infrastructures — inspire speculative proposals for a more intentional give-and-take between the built and natural environments.
The Land and the Landfill
In Staten Island, a transformed landscape poses a key question: Now that we know what animals need from urban spaces, can we give it to them on purpose?
The Human Harbor
Birds, fish, and marine mammals dodge traffic, hitch rides, and make the most of unlikely opportunities in the city’s many waterways.
Lessons from 2044
Urban infrastructures are transformed by crisis and ingenuity in three stories pulled from a newspaper of the future.
Meet the 2026–2027 New City Critics Fellows
New City Critics fellows will turn their critical gaze over the city.
What Water Wants
The low-lying Jewel Streets neighborhood, once coastal marshlands now cut off from the waterfront, is prone to extreme flooding. What happens if planners and advocates learn to go with the flow?
The Planks of Theseus
New York City generates more than 2 million tons of construction and demolition debris every year. An age-old parable suggests that waste is in the eye of the beholder.
Temu’s Last Mile
The river of packages running through the city inscribes a hidden geography of resource-intensive e-commerce.
Tide and Current
Over more than 20 years, an artist ferrying passengers through New York’s waterways in small boats has shared a unique vantage on an always-changing island city.
Infrastructure Enclaves
In a dense city, borders and barriers made of steel, concrete, and asphalt can create unexpected pockets of protection for habitat-starved plants and animals.