Infrastructure

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.

Don't mind me, I'm just holding a large crowbar while standing near a sewer entrance in the middle of the night.

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.

Joshua Nelson explains how freight rail works in New York, reflecting on rail's environmental and economic advantages as well as its role in getting potatoes to your local market.

Michael Chen investigates the physical, spatial and technological significance of the infrastructure of mobile communication networks.

Thaddeus Pawlowski reflects on his participation in a recent professional urban design exchange between São Paulo and New York.

In our second video on complex urban systems, we consider the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as both an icon of civil engineering and a catalyst for systemic urban change.

Carter Craft and Christina Sun explain how the use of short-distance, waterborne freight transport can improve the health, efficiency and landscape of New York City.

Photographer Stephen Mallon talks about the surreal beauty of engineering and how photography can provoke contemplation of industry and our natural environment — and their unexpected convergences.

In the first of a new video series about complex urban systems, we take a closer look at traffic signals citywide and visit the Traffic Management Center in Long Island City.