Knowledge is the most democratic source of power.
The Center grew out of projects undertaken by Hunter faculty and students in the Department of Urban Affairs & Planning, where the Center is hosted. Current projects include:
SUSTAINABILITY WATCH
On Earth Day in April 2007, Mayor Bloomberg announced plaNYC2030 and presented it as a bold and comprehensive strategy to address the challenges of population growth, aging infrastructure, and the environment. The plan sets forth ten broad goals and 127 different initiatives to address issues affecting land, water, transportation, energy, air, and climate change. Whether we praise or criticize the details of the plan, it is important to keep alive the many discussions about long-term sustainability in New York City. Sustainability Watch aims to look at how the plan is working, gaps between the stated goals and the practice of city agencies, and ways to improve the plan.This is an opportunity for open public discussion about a range of city policies, and a first concerted attempt to tackle thorny environmental problems. As part of this, we urge you to comment on these articles and the mayor's plan through the Sustainability Watch message board on GothamGazette.com .
Sustainability Watch is sponsored by CCPD and Gotham Gazette and receives support from the Independence Community Foundation.
Working Papers:1. Is New York's Sustainability Plan Sustainable?
2. New York's Sustainability Plan: Trailblazer or Copycat?
3. From Potholes to Planning: Will the City's Transportation Agency Change Course?
4. New York's Open Schoolyards Initiative: Will Artificial Turf Make it a Public Health Hazard?
Related Links:
2007 Sustainability Watch articles published on GothamGazette.com
Tom Angotti, Plan NYC 2030, February 2007
Julia Vitullo-Martin, Searching for Land - and Finding It, April 2007
Joan Byron, Alyssa Katz and Brad Lander, Sharing the Benefits -- and the Burdens , April 2007
Ron Shiffman, A Greener, Greater and Fairer New York , April 2007
Tom Angotti, A Need to Involve Communities , April 2007
Eve Baron, Bringing the Plan to Communities , April 2007
Glenn Pasanen, Fiscal Impacts of PlaNYC 2030, May 2007
Dave Lutz, What plaNYC Does Not Do, May 2007
Carter Craft, Passing the ‘Do-Ability’ Test , May 2007
Brian Ketcham, Taking on the Traffic , May 2007
Marcy Benstock, Building In The Wrong Places , May 2007
Annette Bernhardt and Adrianne Shropshire, Making Growth Work for All New Yorkers , May 2007
Hope Cohen, Improve Transit Before Congestion Pricing , May 2007
INTERIM REPORT:An Inquiry into the Health Risks of Congestion Pricing on the Outer-Boroughs , July 2007
Courtney Gross and Gail Robinson, Compromising on Congestion and Campaign Cash , July 2007
Joshua Burd, State of Cycling , August 2007
Rich Kassel, How Clean (or Dirty) Is Our Air? , September 2007
Jeremy Miller, Cleaning Up New York’s Buildings, October 2007
Student Projects:
Amanda Huron, Mapping Noise in Ft. Greene Park, Brooklyn, NY, May 2007
Brian Morgan, Neighborhoods in Transition: The Gentrification of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY , May 2007
Andrew Maroko, Using the Cadastral-based Expert Dasymetric System to Estimate Population Impacted by Flood Hazards in New York City
WILLETS POINT
This study was undertaken with support from the City Council Member Hiram Monserrate through the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development. The purpose of the study is to survey and map land use patterns and businesses in the Willets Point area in Queens, New York. Willets Point has been the subject of numerour recent proposals for redevelopment. The City's Economic Development Corporation released Requests for Expressions of Interest in November 2004 and recently qualified a small group of developers to present proposals for redevelopment of the area. The information and maps provided by this study will hopefully serve as background for discussions about the area. It was not within the scope of this study to evaluate existing proposals or develop alternative proposals. However, we have offered some preliminary assessments of current conditions and ideas that could serve as a foundation for more in-depth study of future opportunities. Willets Point Study
COUNCIL OF BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOODS (CBN): ATLANTIC YARDS
http://cbrooklynneighborhoods.homestead.com
In 2007, CBN and CCPD presented the UNITY plan as an alternative to the Forest City Ratner Atlantic Yards development plan. With lawsuits pending and serious questions regarding benefits and costs appearing almost daily, the Atlantic Yards project is far from a "done deal." The UNITY plan is based on community endorsed development principles and realized by a team of professional designers and city planners. The Plan provides a set of guidelines for realistic and sensitive development that encourages both growth and respect for the surrounding neighborhoods. The Plan is based on the results of the UNITY workshops held in 2007 and is being updated based on workshops held in 2008.
STABLE BROOKLYN
In the spring of 2005 residents of the Stable Brooklyn neighborhood in Brooklyn came together because they were concerned about a rash of new residential buildings that many considered to be inconsistent with the existing scale of development. They began to meet and held a walking tour of the area with elected officials and their staff. They successfully modified a developer’s request to upzone a parcel of land, but expressed continuing concern about the potential for future out-of-scale development. At the same time, residents of this seven-block area sandwiched between Windsor Terrace and Kensington developed a greater awareness of and identity with the area, and were anxious to have a say in planning for the future.
This planning document summarizes the results of the two workshops and includes specific proposals developed by our planning team at the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development. These are presented in the interest of stimulating further discussion and action by city agencies, elected officials, communitybased organizations, and residents.
Past projects include:
- A major conference and series of mini-courses on Community Planning & Development co-sponsored by the Municipal Art Society Planning Center.
- A series of training manuals on community planning topics and citizen participation.
- Graduate urban planning studios that produced studies and plans for neighborhoods such as Dutch Kills, Sunnyside, and Corona (Queens), Hells Kitchen (Manhattan), and Williamsburg (Brooklyn).
- Graduate workshops in urban affairs that produced studies for Melrose Commons (Bronx), the NY Department of Labor, and Community Board 8 (Manhattan), for example.
- Hosting of the 2004 Planners Network annual conference.
- Technical assistance in community planning, GIS and environmental analysis to community-based organizations in Brooklyn and Queens.
OTHER LINKS
The Community Based Planning Task Force
The Community-Based Planning Task Force is leading the effort to create a more meaningful role for communities in New York City's planning and decision-making processes and recently launched a new blog as a locus for community-planners to learn about and discuss the latest in community planning news.
To learn more about the campaign, visit the blog: http://www.communitybasedplanningnyc.org
