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.

How BetaNYC builds the tools community boards need for the 21st century.

Community boards promise local democracy, but it takes more to translate neighborhood visions into reality.

In a new series, People Movers, community organizers share how they shape the city from the ground up. First, Verónica Ramírez of the Queens-based Mujeres en Movimiento mobilizes immigrant moms to fight for safer streets.