Conference Description

For almost 100 years, zoning has played a significant, sometimes controversial role in guiding growth and change in American cities. In 1916, New York City enacted the Nation’s first comprehensive zoning resolution. Almost 50 years later, the City adopted its 1961 Zoning Resolution to advance a modern vision of emerging economic, social, environmental, and physical realities. Over the past 50 years, the 1961 Zoning Resolution has evolved to reflect new ideas and realities regarding the City’s development. Changes to zoning have often occurred in the context of neighborhood and citywide debates about the nature of growth, change, and preservation in the City.

Visit the Zoning the City website.

In this 50th anniversary year of the 1961 Zoning Resolution, the New York City Department of City Planning, the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and the Steven L. Newman Institute of Baruch College came together to host “Zoning the City,” a day-long conference designed to cultivate new thinking about zoning as a governmental tool that may be used to address major economic, social, environmental, and physical challenges facing New York City in the 21st century. Co-chaired by City Planning Chair Amanda Burden and Harvard Professor Jerold S. Kayden, the conference featured prominent experts who described the urban challenges and the role zoning should, and should not play in meeting them. The conference explored the possibilities and limitations of zoning as New York City seeks to compete globally, offer economic and social opportunities for all its citizens, ensure a sustainable environment, and enhance its public realm.

Send a message to Zoning the City. Watch video from the conference and tell us your thoughts about zoning’s role in shaping a 21st Century New York

• Welcome
  The Honorable Robert Steel, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, New York City
  
  
• Zoning New York City
  New York City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden
  
  
• Framing the Place of Zoning in Modern Cities
  Jerold S. Kayden, Professor, Harvard University
  
  
• Opening Remarks
  Robert Steel, Deputy Mayor, on behalf of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
  
  
  
  
• The 1961 Zoning Resolution: Historical Context and Vision
  Hilary Ballon, University Professor and Deputy Vice Chancellor, New York University
  
  
• The 1961 Zoning Resolution: Evolution in Response to Changing Conditions
  Alex Garvin, President, Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and Management, Yale University and President, Alex Garvin & Associates, Inc.
  Carol Willis, Founder, The Skyscraper Museum, New York and Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Studies, Columbia University
  
  
• Moderated discussion with speakers and audience questions and answers
  Moderator: Rick Bell, Executive Director, American Institute of Architects New York
  

Planning challenges facing New York City in the 21st Century
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• The Competitive City
  Dan Doctoroff, Chief Executive Officer and President, Bloomberg LP
  
  
• The Equitable City
  Rosanne Haggerty, Founder, Common Ground and Founder and Executive Director, Community Solutions
  
  
• The Sustainable City
  Rohit Aggarwala, Special Advisor to the Chair C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
  
  
• The Physical City
  Paul Goldberger, Architecture Critic, The New Yorker
  
  
• Moderated discussion with speakers and audience questions and answers
  Moderator: Errol Louis, Host, "Inside City Hall", NY1

Zoning’s Role in Addressing Planning Challenges Facing New York City in the 21st Century: Intro, Zoning and the Competitive City,  Zoning and the Equitable City
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• Introduction
  Amanda M. Burden
  
  
• Zoning and the Competitive City
  Vishaan Chakrabarti, Marc Holliday Professor of Real Estate Development and Director, Real Estate Development Program, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University
  Kairos Shen, Director of Planning, Boston Redevelopment Authority
  Moderator: Alex Garvin
  
  
• Zoning and the Equitable City
  Toni Griffin, Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
  John Rahaim, Director of Planning, San Francisco
  Moderator: Jerold Kayden

Zoning’s Role in Addressing Planning Challenges Facing New York City in the 21st Century: Zoning and the Sustainable City, Zoning and the Physical City and Where Do We Go From Here?
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• Zoning and the Sustainable City
  Harriet Tregoning, Director, Office of Planning, Washington, D.C.
  Jonathan F. P. Rose, President, Jonathan Rose Companies
  Moderator: Jack Nyman, Newman Institute, Baruch College
  
  
• Zoning and the Physical City
  Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design, Bartlett School of Planning, University College London
  Peter Park, Manager, Community Planning and Development Department, Denver and Loeb Fellow, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
  Moderator: Paul Goldberger
  
  
• Where Do We Go From Here?
  Thom Mayne, Founder, Morphosis
  Robert A. M. Stern, Dean, Yale School of Architecture and Founder,
  Robert A. M. Stern Architects
  Mary Ann Tighe, Chair, Real Estate Board of New York and Chief Executive Officer,
  CB Richard Ellis New York
  Moderator: Jerold S. Kayden