New York City Aims for Comprehensive Long-Range Planning

The city's proposed comprehensive planning bill could create a more equitable and collaborative planning process

2 minute read

March 4, 2021, 5:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


The New York city council's proposed comprehensive long-term planning bill, write Danny Pearlstein and David Tipson in the Gotham Gazette, "has the potential to foster a more equitable and rational planning process to guide land-use changes in New York City." However, the authors caution that "comprehensive planning is about much more than land use" and involved decisions that affect "education, transportation, public health and safety, sustainability," and all aspects of city life. Comprehensive planning could end the "piecemeal" decision-making that has crippled the city's development policies.

The authors argue that the lack of meaningful, comprehensive design guidelines lead to a host of urban problems such as overcrowded schools, excessive traffic and damage to local roads, and dead streetscapes. A "formal process that provide[s] meaningful opportunities for the community to engage in planning" can address these issues and bring forward important community concerns early on. Comprehensive planning promises a pathway to adherence to "clear and immovable guiding principles such as racial justice, reduction of segregation in schools and neighborhoods, net creation of affordable housing, and prioritization of public transit and pedestrian safety and accessibility" through multi-agency coordination and collaboration.

"New York City’s exceptional size, complexity, and competing needs only increase the necessity of a formal and predictable planning process." The proposed amendments to the comprehensive plan would "enshrine better public transit," "give local communities a real opportunity to plan proactively without being allowed to override the public good of the city as a whole," and "ensure that the plan will actually guide official decision-making."

Friday, February 26, 2021 in Gotham Gazette

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

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

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.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder