Explore new tools for creating cooperative businesses.
Posted — June 17, 2021
Explores how to build community power through connected hyper-local networks.
Posted — June 17, 2021
Learn about Forefront Fellows' partnership with Compost Power.
Posted — June 17, 2021
For New York to continue to be a livable and diverse city, the City must develop policies that take a climate-first approach to housing.
Posted — December 11, 2020
We must take action with community-led strategies that build long lasting resilience in centers most at risk, and we must do so with those most active in the community.
Posted — December 11, 2020
Equitable health outcomes are necessary to achieve climate justice, and changes to existing policies can help achieve that goal.
Posted — December 10, 2020
The Urban Design Forum’s 2019 Forefront Fellowship, Turning the Heat, addressed ways how urban practitioners can advance climate justice principles across New York City.
Posted — December 3, 2020
Restorative Ground by WIP Collaborative proposes an installation that will act as a new destination in Hudson Square, a place for a range of experiences, activities and interactions to occur between residents, community members, and the broader public.
Posted — September 15, 2020
This strategy of placemaking at Little 6th Avenue reflects the wealth of cultural and educational institutions in the area and proposes to support the outdoor movement and activities of pedestrians and residents, facilitating responsible social interactions, planned and spontaneous, and help to build engagement for other sites in Hudson Square both in person and virtually.
Posted — September 14, 2020
Against the rush of the 24 hour news cycle and whiplash politics of the day, Dash Marshall proposes a slow space for Hudson Square. Viewsstand brings Hudson Square’s history into dialogue with the present by creating a newsstand on Little 6th Avenue and converting the street to a plaza of reflection and conversation.
Posted — September 14, 2020
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Urban Design Forum launched City Life After Coronavirus, a digital program convening Fellows and international experts to document global responses to the current crisis and to strategize a road to recovery for New York City. In April, we released a Call for Ideas to our network soliciting a […]
Posted — September 4, 2020
Supportive housing is at the center of New York’s response to the homelessness crisis, but its development is constrained by land scarcity and unfavorable land use policies.
Posted — July 24, 2020
Public bathrooms are a basic need, public health concern, human rights concern, and quality of life concern. We propose a series of creative legislative, funding and management strategies for the City of New York to create more public bathrooms.
Posted — July 24, 2020
New York City's open spaces should protect the dignity and human rights of people experiencing homelessness; connect those living on the streets with the resources they need; and welcome them without excluding other New Yorkers.
Posted — July 24, 2020
Providing incarcerated individuals with access to early and continuous re-entry services will help reduce homelessness in New York City.
Posted — July 24, 2020
The subconscious interplay between dehumanization, stigmatization, and our negative perceptions of the oppressed in our society must be exposed and eliminated.
Posted — July 24, 2020
Restricting non-manufacturing uses is essential to the success of City industrial policy.
Posted — November 5, 2019
To respond to the climate crisis, New York City must preserve M-zones and invest in manufacturing and industrial innovation.
Posted — November 5, 2019
Public investments in open space, retail, and streetscapes can promote economic development by connecting and enriching New York’s life sciences hubs.
Posted — November 5, 2019
Coworking spaces should reflect the identity of their attracted members in order to thrive at work.
Posted — November 5, 2019
The community-focused approach of coworking can benefit justice design for a better inmate, visitor, and neighborhood experience.
Posted — November 5, 2019
Activate underutilized NYCHA spaces with workspaces for residents.
Posted — November 4, 2019
Design flexible campuses and flexible laboratory space that allow for easy growth and future modifications.
Posted — November 4, 2019
New York City should invest in non-profit organizations and spaces to create a safe ecosystem for Black entrepreneurs and creatives.
Posted — November 4, 2019
New York City’s industrial sector must undergo climate adaption and mitigation as a mechanism for economic opportunity and environmental justice.
Posted — November 4, 2019
By Gretchen Dykstra The heart of Manhattan was reborn when the Times Square Business Improvement District (BID) was established in 1992, led by Gretchen Dykstra. Dykstra went on to serve as Commissioner of Consumer Affairs under Mayor Bloomberg, and was the Founding President of the National 9/11 Memorial Foundation. Today, she lives in the Hudson […]
Posted — July 12, 2019
By Carter Strickland Improved water quality paved the way for the redevelopment of New York City’s waterfront from manufacturing to residential and park uses. But combined sewer overflows remained a vexing problem—exacerbated by a century of development and increased rainfall during to climate change. Carter Strickland worked on the problem as Deputy Commissioner and then […]
Posted — July 12, 2019
By Theodore Liebman Theodore Liebman, FAIA, has devoted his career to examining the impacts of development on people and the environment, with an eye to improving cities and shaping future settlements. Now a Principal with Perkins Eastman, an Adjunct Professor at NYU, and Board Member with the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization, Liebman casts his mind […]
Posted — July 12, 2019
By John Raskin John Raskin had a ringside view when legislative efforts to secure transit revenues through East River and Harlem bridge tolls were defeated in Albany in 2009, when John was serving as Chief of Staff to State Senator Daniel Squadron. Since 2011, Raskin has applied his previous experience in community organizing to transit […]
Posted — July 12, 2019
By Margaret Tobin A decades-long impasse over the development of the west side waterfront ended in the summer of 1993 when Margaret Tobin, Tom Fox, and councilman Tom Duane cut open a chainlink fence at Pier 62—returning a small piece of the waterfront to the public realm. Tobin served as the Executive Vice President and […]
Posted — July 12, 2019
By Sam Schwartz Samuel I. Schwartz came to be known as “Gridlock Sam” while serving as NYC Traffic Commissioner. Since then Schwartz has continued to apply himself to the city’s transportation challenges; first at the Department of Transportation (DOT), and later at the eponymous firm he founded in 1995. In the early 1990s, Schwartz outlined […]
Posted — July 11, 2019
Daniel McPhee speaks to Marisa Lago and Regina Myer about transforming Downtown Brooklyn into a thriving live-work neighborhood.
Posted — May 15, 2019
Loft-inspired design in commercial buildings can draw creative businesses to Downtown Brooklyn.
Posted — May 15, 2019
Faculty externships can create workforce pipelines in growing business hubs as a way to retain talent and provide diverse growth in transforming neighborhoods.
Posted — May 3, 2019
Maximizing civic space when designing mixed-use projects can support active hubs for cultural and commercial activity.
Posted — May 3, 2019
An integrated equity plan in large, mixed-use development projects can support inclusive and sustainable economic development.
Posted — May 3, 2019
As housing prices continue to rise, New York City should establish a “Development without Displacement” framework to protect its most vulnerable residents.
Posted — May 3, 2019
Parks really can serve a social equity mission. Let a commitment to equitable design, operations, and maintenance, inform park funding strategies.
Posted — May 3, 2019
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to maintenance and no design is maintenance-free. New York City’s DOT is pursuing a multipronged approach to find long-term solutions for maintenance in all neighborhoods–not just those with resources.
Posted — May 3, 2019
To save public housing, we need to change the narrative and open NYCHA to new technology partnerships.
Posted — May 3, 2019
In expanding our notion of a neighborhood park, we can invite others in and foster a spirit of shared responsibility.
Posted — May 3, 2019
Many New York institutions are in desperate need of funding to maintain their landmarks. To preserve our city’s heritage, these institutions need the ability to monetize their unused development rights.
Posted — May 3, 2019
Arterials such as FDR Drive and the Sheridan Expressway are long overdue for a 21st-century transformation, which calls for equally innovative approaches to infrastructure design and public finance.
Posted — May 1, 2019
With its extraordinary waterfront features, Hudson River Park’s capital maintenance costs are eye-watering. Selling the park’s development rights has allowed us to divert a crisis.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Zoning requirements could help facilitate the renewal of subway stations, enriching the daily experience for our straphangers.
Posted — April 22, 2019
The current Parks Commissioner describes parks as critical infrastructure. Private funds aren’t used to build or maintain infrastructure projects such as roads, sewers, water supply, or marine transfer stations—so why should we rely on private dollars to maintain parks?
Posted — April 22, 2019
To bring about an equitable city, we need to rapidly scale up the number of affordable housing units stewarded by business savvy, mission-oriented entities.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Maintenance is vital to the well-being and longevity of our urban open spaces. We advocate building maintenance plans into park projects from the start.
Posted — April 22, 2019
We need a game plan for funding the maintenance of New York City’s iconic parks, obscure parks, and could-be parks. Sports ticket sales could be the answer.
Posted — April 22, 2019
By leveraging public-private partnerships and sharing maintenance responsibilities between advertisers and retail lessees, we can deliver modern transit hubs that combine transportation and retail.
Posted — April 22, 2019
In neighborhoods with fewer resources, the BID model can be unpacked and adapted—sharing its functions among community organizations, government, and other supportive partners.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Partnership is possible—and importantly, fruitful—between residents, community organizations, and BIDs. If we want Myrtle Avenue to be the anchor for a healthy, thriving
neighborhood, we know that intentional partnership is essential to achieve it.
Posted — April 22, 2019
To maintain a common ground between Gowanus veterans and newcomers, we must rehabilitate the public spaces that connect the dots between the old and the new.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Instituting a citywide stewardship strategy for resiliency infrastructure— a Conservancy 2.0—will help deliver resilient open space projects to the physically and economically vulnerable areas that need them the most.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Business Improvement Districts often act as vital points of contact for communities. Local Development Corporations could be established to supplement BIDs, marshaling services that directly address neighborhood needs.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Community Land Trusts can maintain housing affordability for generations. We’re working to achieve this in New York City.
Posted — April 22, 2019
Digital technologies can augment, rather than replace, neighborhood retail.
Posted — March 27, 2019
City government should create a non-profit commercial development fund to combat small business displacement.
Posted — March 27, 2019
Time-based zoning encourages more efficient land use and balanced growth for dynamic 24-hour neighborhoods.
Posted — March 27, 2019
It is time cities consider a range of criteria - user equity, economic viability, and health – and light in nighttime design and planning initiatives.
Posted — March 27, 2019
City governments should advocate for nighttime cultural and commercial spaces by actively managing the urban night through regulation, design and infrastructure.
Posted — March 27, 2019
Cities must update codes and regulations to keep up with transformation in retail.
Posted — March 27, 2019
By designing mixed-use buildings within industrial zones, we can provide more space for emerging tech, vertical manufacturing, and creative sectors.
Posted — March 27, 2019
We can adapt defunct space in New York City’s industrial zones into new facilitates suitable for emerging 21st century industries.
Posted — March 27, 2019
By combining a new approach to vertical manufacturing and integrating valuable public space and amenities, multi-modal transit and streetscapes, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is positioned to become a new model of urban industrial campus.
Posted — March 27, 2019
Design commercial buildings that provide modular space for businesses to grow throughout the lifecycle of their development – from seed stage to maturity.
Posted — March 26, 2019
Cities should encourage development models that incentivize the creation of co-located facilities for manufacturing and office space as a way to decentralize working hubs.
Posted — March 22, 2019
Instead of asking what kind of future transportation technology will bring us, we should ask: what kind of city do we want?
Posted — February 26, 2018
Our historic subway stations are our most used public spaces in the city. We should partner with the private sector to give our stations the innovation and investment they need to thrive.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Electric and driverless cars are on the way-it's time to rethink our gas stations as new civic space.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Penn Station is a symbol of our city, yet now stands a neglected opportunity. It should be a shared civic space for us all!
Posted — February 26, 2018
We no longer need Broadway as a street. We should transform it into a linear park—a Green Line running through midtown Manhattan.
Posted — February 26, 2018
The Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook is notoriously difficult to access via public transit. Let’s explore new digital approaches to make the area’s transportation options visible to those who need them.
Posted — February 26, 2018
St. Nicholas Avenue today is a largely unnecessary traffic corridor. Imagine it as a 3/4-mile long park running through Upper Manhattan: Harlem Lane reborn.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Traditional green infrastructure hides the runoff it manages. Imagine if we celebrated our storm-water by growing the future of our streetscape!
Posted — February 26, 2018
The Broadway Malls could become a significant green corridor, integrating cutting-edge technology to provide a safe route for pedestrians, cyclists, and local wildlife.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Let’s expand the idea of the ‘street tree’ into a ‘street of trees’ to create a forest expressway.
Posted — February 26, 2018
The Brooklyn Strand should be a new gateway to the borough, connecting the waterfront with a series of parks, plazas, and greenways that will animate the thriving heart of Downtown Brooklyn!
Posted — February 26, 2018
We call for a (re) conceptualization of Complete Streets that humanizes “users” by acknowledging their difference and diversity.
Posted — February 26, 2018
The L shutdown is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to upgrade one of our busiest subway lines to meet the needs of the future. We should invest in our stations today.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Queens is New York City’s fastest growing borough, but it lacks the infrastructure it needs. We must support Queens’ expansion with smart, sustainable transportation.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Staten Island residents have serious transit inequities. To solve them, we must leave behind rails and roads and look to the sky with the SI Gondola.
Posted — February 26, 2018
When the L train shuts down, thousands will need an alternative to travel along 14th street. We propose the PeopleWay!
Posted — February 26, 2018
42nd street is a microcosm of New York. Imagine it as a grand passage, with light rail gliding through the heart of the city!
Posted — February 26, 2018
New neighborhoods are rising on the water’s edge, but lack reliable public transit. Let’s build the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX).
Posted — February 26, 2018
We are just a few miles away from becoming the most bike-friendly region in the country. Let’s get there by completing a continuous route around New York Harbor!
Posted — February 26, 2018
New York City must strengthen our existing transit system beyond the Manhattan core to catalyze the untapped potential for development in underserved neighborhoods. We should invest in new, next-generation, elevated transit—the Halo Line—to serve all New Yorkers and build a strong future.
Posted — February 26, 2018
A new subway line between Inwood and Orchard Beach would give residents and commuters the transit options they deserve.
Posted — February 26, 2018
We don’t just need new transit, we need a comprehensive strategy to achieve resilient community development and connectivity—the BQXL.
Posted — February 26, 2018
We’re headed for ‘bike-lock’ on the bridges to Manhattan. We need new capacity now.
Posted — February 26, 2018
The key to a more equitable New York is a new model for public transit—one that unlocks the potential for autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Posted — February 26, 2018
Disposing our waste is a wasteful process—it’s time we make it more efficient.
Posted — February 26, 2018
We need to rethink New York City’s transportation system to make it possible to get from anywhere to everywhere.
Posted — February 26, 2018
The L Train shutdown is the most significant transportation-related crisis to hit New York City in decades—and an unprecedented opportunity to solve subway overcrowding.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Few tasks are as fraught as envisioning the future, but the history of urban technology promises that the changes of the digital age are likely to be both profound and complex.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Private microtransit, in concert with congestion pricing and public Bus Rapid Transit, is the greatest opportunity to fix our bus crisis.
Posted — February 26, 2018
Public transit today is out of reach for the City's poorest residents. Every New Yorker deserves a Fair Fare!
Posted — February 26, 2018
The buses that crawl down our streets today are not the service our city needs. Our buses should move at the speed of New York!
Posted — February 26, 2018
Paratransit today is managed inefficiently. It’s time to rethink how our future senior and disabled population will access their rides.
Posted — February 26, 2018
In the face of climate change and a lack of infrastructure investment, a comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem can move New York City into the future!
Posted — February 26, 2018
