Policy

As cities, and the way we understand them, have changed, so has the reputation of a preeminent urban thinker. If gentrification and structural racism are the problems, does Jane Jacobs still have the answers?

In two conversations, five years apart, residents of a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community reflect on the ups and downs of aging in place in New York City.

A decade ago, Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities seemed like a really good idea. How are they doing now?

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?

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.

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.

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.

New York City has passed sweeping new laws to green the city’s roofs. What do they mean for residents, building owners, and birds?

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?

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?