About ↓

The public perception of homelessness is largely based on who people see in the public realm.

On February 19th the Homelessness in the Public Realm team led discussion around how New York City can make its public realm more inclusive. To that end, the team advanced two proposals to 1) increase access to public toilets, and 2) add more oversight of public spaces and their management.

“The primary solution to homelessness is housing. An improved public realm cannot solve homelessness, but it can impact the experiences of those who live their lives in public.”

Acknowledgements ↓

A special thank you to our guests and the Homelessness in the Public Realm Fellowship Team for a memorable evening. This event would not have been possible without the generosity of NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress.

Our Sponsors ↓

This program is made possible through the support of Magnusson Architecture and Planning and our Director’s Circle.

Shape our year-long inquiry by becoming a program sponsor and promote conversation between our Forefront Fellows and invited decision-makers on addressing the homelessness crisis in New York City.

To learn more, please contact Daniel McPhee, Executive Director, 646-928-0550, daniel@urbandesignforum.org.

About Shelter for All ↓

This event is the eleventh of our Shelter for All Forefront Fellowship, a fellowship dedicated to cultivating twenty diverse and emerging leaders in urban design, policy and development. This year, our Fellows spent the summer in partnership with the New York City Department of Homeless Services and the American Institute of Architects to draft city guidelines on shelter design, and now they are spending the fall and spring investigating the full spectrum of homelessness.