Profiling the Most Powerful Planning Director in America

Eleven years into a likely twelve-year tenure as director of the New York City Planning Department, Julie Satow explores the accomplishments, and unfinished agenda, of Amanda Burden.

2 minute read

May 21, 2012, 12:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


With 40 percent of the city rezoned, large swaths of its waterfront reborn, and an abandoned railroad remade as a hugely successful park during her tenure, observers are beginning to reflect on the unprecedented changes that have shaped New York City since Burden was appointed head of the Planning Department in 2002 by new mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Her fans say that Ms. Burden is a visionary who will leave behind a much-improved city. 'There is no question that under Amanda's leadership, New York has experienced a renaissance,' said Vin Cipolla, president of the Municipal Art Society of New York, 'with more development of parkland, waterfront and infrastructure over the last 10 years than in the 100 years before it.'"

"But critics say that the sum total of Ms. Burden's ambitions will be a gentrified city that no longer has a place for working-class New Yorkers."

"The overall effect of the city's rezonings has been incredibly dramatic in terms of the creation of expensive, market-rate housing and typically middling at best in terms of affordable housing," said Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation."

Satow traces Burden's trajectory from "it girl" of the go-go 1960s, to her training as an urban planner, to her surprise selection by Mayor Bloomberg. Although her accomplishments to date will shape the city for decades to come, with the Bloomberg administration's window closing (and likely her's with it), a number of high-profile projects (including the rezoning of Midtown East) are left to be completed. Meaning Burden's imprint on the city is far from finalized.

Friday, May 18, 2012 in The New York Times

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

3 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

5 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

7 hours ago - InTransition Magazine