Policy
Follow the Frontline
Communities of color have long been the vanguard of New York City's environmental justice movement. How can designers support and learn from their efforts to mitigate a climate crisis that is up close and personal?
We’re About Getting People Free, Period
With the pandemic churning inside city jails, a proliferation of mutual aid networks are crowdsourcing funds to get as many people out of pretrial detention as they can. We hear from organizers of COVID Bail Out NYC about what securing someone else's freedom really means.
What People Need and What the Stock Provides
Sarah Watson of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council talks about crafting policy at the intersection of public health and private home, and the urgency to build and adapt dwellings that reflect how New Yorkers live — alone or together.
Making Science Actionable
The Urban Systems Lab talks about overlapping social vulnerabilities to climate change and COVID-19, and their efforts to gather and share the data that matters most in a complex and ever-shifting situation.
Up on the Roof
New York City has passed sweeping new laws to green the city’s roofs. What do they mean for residents, building owners, and birds?
The Big Picture
28 pounds, 450,000 words, 800 photographs, 200 maps. 50 years on, what can NYC’s only comprehensive plan teach us about envisioning a collective urban future?
Public Risks on Private Shores
Along New York City’s waterfront, development has spurred the creation of new public spaces regulated down to the level of tree plantings and bicycle parking. Why aren’t resilience measures mandated in a similar way?
To Stop Displacement, Disclose the Data!
For more than half a century, real estate data has played a crucial role in struggles against housing discrimination and dispossession. But what information is needed now in the face of changing forms of speculation?
Schoolhouse Shuffle
In co-located schools, sharing isn't just a lesson for the students. How do educators balance their institution’s needs with those of their neighbors?
Schools Apart, Together
When vastly different institutions are located in the same building, do students learn how to share, or how the city is profoundly unfair?