Urban Design Forum Releases Their Platform of Ideas for New York’s Next Leaders
CONTACT: Hadley Stack, hadley@urbandesignforum.org,
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New York, NY – Today, Urban Design Forum released Vision for a Better City: 25 Ideas for a Healthy and Safe New York, a platform for courageous leadership for New York’s next mayor.
Informed by over 1,100 civic leaders and industry experts from every corner of New York — Vision for a Better City offers ambitious, actionable, and pragmatic recommendations to improve quality of life for all New Yorkers. With five short months until the mayoral primary election, the platform lays out a transformative policy agenda around six essential pillars that define thriving New York City neighborhoods: Housing, Public Space, Mobility, Economic Development, Public Health and Climate Action.
With national politics shifting, New York’s core values face new threats. In this moment of uncertainty, the city needs bold, visionary leadership to tackle these challenges and build a city that works for everyone.
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“I love New York with every fiber of my being, but I also know a better city is possible. It was an honor to work with so many of our members to share Urban Design Forum’s Vision for the City,” says Dan McPhee, executive director of Urban Design Forum. “We have come to 25 common sense, unifying ideas that any leader can embrace to improve our everyday quality of life. We hope many more New Yorkers will join us in making this vision a reality.”
“There are so many opportunities to lead positive change in our city. Whether in the areas of our housing, public realm or climate, we hope our next Mayor shares our vision on these actionable, winnable and productive next steps,” says AJ Pires, co-chair of the Urban Design Forum Board and President of Alloy Development.
“Our next mayor needs to ensure that NYC can continue to make progress under new threats and uncertainty from national leadership,” says Margaret Newman, Practice Leader of Urban Places and Smart Mobility at Stantec, and board member of Urban Design Forum. “All of us at the Urban Design Forum are ready to give our support to a mayor who can work with us on making travels through our city safer, faster, and more beautiful and bring better public spaces to our communities.”
“How our neighborhoods are designed directly affects human health and wellbeing. The next administration must incorporate a public health strategy that recognizes and addresses the needs of our most vulnerable residents,” says Earle Chambers, Ph.D., M.P.H., Director of Research in the Department of Family and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine-Montefiore Health System and Urban Design Forum board member.
Urban Design Forum is inviting all leading candidates for NYC mayor to engage with our Fellows and contribute to this critical dialogue about New York’s future, starting with a sit down with Zellnor Myrie on March 12th.
About Us
Urban Design Forum connects and inspires New Yorkers to design, build and care for a better city. We are a member-powered organization of 1,000+ civic leaders committed to a more just future for our city. We believe the built environment—our neighborhoods, buildings, public spaces and infrastructure—shapes our city’s health, culture and economy. We bring together New Yorkers of diverse backgrounds and experiences to learn, debate, and design a vibrant city for all.
Learn more about Urban Design Forum’s Mayoral Platform HERE