Co-Sponsored by The City Club of New York

New York City builds a lot, but does it build well? And who, if anyone, is responsible for ensuring that it does?

This panel brings together planners and urban designers to explore the relationship between design and planning in New York City at a moment when that relationship is under strain.

The recent disbanding of the Department of City Planning’s Urban Design Unit (with little explanation and no public debate) raises concerns about whether the City has abandoned its commitment to shaping the built environment beyond the blunt instruments of use and density regulation. At the same time, the Public Design Commission, which reviews city-funded projects for design quality, has largely operated at the tail end of the development process, prompting the question of whether more proactive design input might produce better outcomes for New Yorkers.

More broadly, the panel will grapple with a tension running through contemporary planning debates: does insisting on design quality serve the public interest, or does it add unnecessary cost and friction to an already costly development process?

Moderator:

David Burney is the co-founder & Director of the Urban Placemaking & Management program at Pratt Institute (Architecture) and Chair of the Comprehensive Planning Committee of the City Club of New York.

Panel:

Jack Travis is an architect, educator, interior designer, and cultural design consultant based in the South Bronx.

Laurie Hawkson is an architect, a member of the New York City Public Design Commission, and a partner at Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects.

Matthew Lister is Managing Director for Gehl US and focuses on the intersection of real estate strategy and the design and activation of great public spaces.