Urban The Department of City Planning’s
mission is to plan the future of the city
Design
of New York. One of the core values of
the mission is a concern for the livability
of New York City’s neighborhoods and
Principles
quality of the urban design that shapes
them. As the department works to
advance comprehensive neighborhood
for Planning
planning and the review of land use
applications, the urban design office
New York City
is charged with providing a clear and
consistent perspective and advocacy
in all matters that will affect the public
realm. Through a series of workshops and
evaluation of successful recent projects in
the five boroughs, the urban design office
has distilled a set of principles for good
urban design. The principles are intended
to be a resource internally for department
PLANNING staff and externally for those who are
NYC Department of City Planning
working to improve the livability of New
120 Broadway, 31st Floor York City’s neighborhoods and those who
New York, NY 10271
www.nyc.gov/planning
share our commitment to expand, protect
@NYCPlanning and promote our public realm.
URBAN DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Good urban design both creates
and reinforces a sense of place
New Yorkers love neighborhoods with a sense of identity and
authenticity. Great urban design incorporates and celebrates a
neighborhood’s history, the culture of those who call it home, and
the natural systems that underlie and surround it. Iconic buildings,
vibrant public spaces, and natural areas can generate a powerful
and unique sense of place. Those elements of urban design that are
familiar throughout the city—recognizable building types, well-ordered
streets, and waterfront esplanades—create a rich and welcoming urban
environment.
Good urban design is open and
accessible to everyone
The City uses policy and zoning tools to improve every New Yorker’s
access to affordable housing, fresh healthy food, quality open space,
and other essential neighborhood services. Urban design coordinates
how these policy objectives work together on the ground. For instance,
access to quality open space can be limited when cars are given priority
over pedestrians and bicycles. Urban design improves accessibility and
openness by designing places that encourage public use, ensuring that
privately owned public spaces and waterfronts are both visible and
welcoming to passersby, and that affordable housing enjoys the same
standard of urban design as its neighbors.
Good urban design pays
attention to the details
Good urban design spans multiple scales, from benches and planters to
large-scale planning and policy initiatives. It requires attention to detail
at every step in the planning and design process. With urban design
leadership and vision, an abandoned rail line can become a world class
park and a dilapidated streetscape can emerge as a village commons.
Good urban design does not have to cost more or take more time, but
is most effective when initiated at the beginning of a project rather than
as an afterthought.
Good urban design makes
people feel good
In 1916 New York City’s first zoning regulations were established to
ensure universal access to light and air. This core idea remains integral
to every urban design decision, even as urban designers now address
a broader set of questions of public health, comfort, and enjoyment
across the public realm. Urban design supports the creation of vital
street-life by promoting diverse and active ground floor uses. People
feel a sense of security and comfort walking through a well-knit
fabric of buildings and public spaces. Urban design not only gives a
neighborhood shape, it reflects a diversity of ways of living, promoting
inclusivity and comfort as the bedrock of a successful place.
URBAN DESIGN PROTOCOL
Get to Know the Place
The first priority of an urban designer on a project is to fully understand,
appreciate, and document the site and context. This means walking a site
at different times and getting to know the people and places in the area.
Understanding the history of planning and development in an area, as well
as ongoing initiatives, provides a foundation for sensible design thinking.
Urban designers need to be sensitive to the social and economic context
of a neighborhood, especially where legacies of racial or environmental
injustice are prevalent. A thorough site analysis requires intensive
sketching, measuring site conditions, and mapping data to inform the
public conversation and inspire urban design strategies.
Engage through Visualization
Like good planning, good urban design depends on a diversity of voices.
Getting people involved early in the process is critical. Urban design
plays an essential role in coordinating complex urban projects, ensuring
a level of transparency through visualization and documentation, and
thereby creating a platform for sustained collaboration among multiple
stakeholders. By working with clear visualizations and direct engagement,
urban designers can build the understanding and trust that makes
productive collaboration possible.
Think Across Scales
Elements of urban design are typically perceived at three scales. From
a citywide perspective, urban design consists of the standards and
regulations that govern private development and public investment in
infrastructure and services. From a neighborhood perspective, urban
design includes blocks and streets, building fabric and infrastructure, open
space and public buildings. From the pedestrian’s perspective, the scale
at which we can best judge the success of urban design, fine grained
elements of buildings, streets, sidewalks, plantings, seating, lighting and
other details help create an intimate human experience and contribute to
the character and identity of a particular neighborhood.
Think Long Term and Short Term
Designers use scenarios to test ideas. Scenarios prompt critical questions
about implementation, phasing, maintenance, and funding. How is this
place going to be used over time, who is going to maintain it, and how will
it impact the surrounding area over the coming years? When scenarios are
inconclusive and a project’s impacts are not fully understood, pilot projects
and short-term interventions can be employed to observe and evaluate
design strategies in real time.
Question the Status Quo
Finally, like all design, urban design must question the status quo.
By examining global issues –climate change, housing affordability,
transportation equity, public health--and through our local context, urban
designers help to shape the City’s long term policies. By understanding
precedents from around the world, we challenges ourselves and our
stakeholders to look at the public realm from a different perspective. We
must continuously improve our practices of planning and design in order
to ensure that the public realm and physical form of the city continue to
reflect the extraordinary diversity of its people, while improving their overall
quality of life.
