Urban Planning for City Leaders - Cities Alliance

How to know if you are making an impactSolution“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” says Bloomberg. Key to the success of PlaNYC isthat specific goals were clearly set for each area of interest. “New York City is dedicated to takingaccurate measurements as we tackle major challenges, and PlaNYC is guided by a variety of metricsso that we can track our progress toward major goals – and ensure we are implementing the mosteffective strategies.”In housing and neighbourhoods, the goal is to create homes for almost a million people. In parksand public spaces, it will ensure that all residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Reusingbrownfields by cleaning up all contaminated land; improving the quality of waterways, restoringcoastal ecosystems and providing space for recreation; ensuring a high quality and reliability of thewater supply system; expanding public transport choices and ensuring their reliability; reducingenergy consumption and making energy systems cleaner and more reliable; achieving the cleanestair quality of any big city in the United States; redirecting 75 per cent of solid waste from landfills;reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 30 per cent; and increasing the resilience ofcommunities, natural systems and infrastructure to climate risks are PlaNYC goals.These goals have associated Sustainability Indicators to track progress towards achieving them.While the plan will take 20-years to complete, performance is measured annually. Tracking progressensures being on target to meet long-term goals and realizing what must be done in the shortterm.Annual reports show milestones that have been reached and those that need more effort.This reinforces accountability and creates transparency. PlaNYC was developed from early in2006 until its launch on Earth Day in 2007. The 132 initiatives in PlaNYC were created by all therelevant agencies of city government in consultation with stakeholders who collectively outlinedresponsibilities, milestones and budget commitments. An Annual Progress Report is published eachApril.ResultsThe impact of PlaNYC has been substantial. Over 97 per cent of the 127 initiatives were launchedwithin one year of its being started and almost two thirds of the milestones in 2009 were achievedor mostly achieved. Over 141,000 units of affordable housing have been created or preserved.Planning regulations adopted for over 20 transit-oriented schemes will make more than 87 percent of new development transit-accessible. More than 200 acres of parkland have been created,with over 525,000 residents now within a 10-minute walk of a park. Over 600,000 trees have beenplanted. New public spaces for pedestrians have been created, including one in Times Square, whichhas attracted tourists and residents and reduced pedestrian fatalities.Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 13 per cent below 2005 levels. Laws to make existingbuildings more energy efficient have resulted in over 100 energy efficiency retrofits on city-ownedbuildings in a bid to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2017. Over 30per cent of the taxi fleet is now “green” and regulations to phase out dirty heating fuels havebeen enacted. PlaNYC progress reports openly acknowledge what needs to improve. The mostcritical obstacles to municipal action are in policy areas where federal or state laws and regulationsprevent the city government from being innovative. While the city government works closely withthe federal and state governments, and generally has similar objectives, there are areas, such astransport funding, energy supply regulation or storm water management standards, where federalor state bodies’ authority ranks above the city’s. Local law requires that PlaNYC be updated everyfour years, which ensures varying degrees of continuity and updating by future administrations.Implicit in the requirement for updates is a recognition that circumstances will evolve. This ability forthe plan to evolve actually makes PlaNYC stronger. Future mayors will need some latitude to shapePlaNYC for their times.167