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East New York, Brooklyn > URBACT RiConnect Webinar by Winston Von Engel

16 March 2021
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URBACT RiConnect Webinar // Non-RiConnect members, please join the event here

In our next webinar, on planning and governance, we will get to learn about an excellent example of integrated transit-oriented urban development: the East New York, Brooklyn Community Plan with Winston Von Engel, AICP, Director at the Brooklyn Office of the NYC Department of City Planning.

How to face planning in a participatory and integrated manner, making the most of regional transit infrastructure to redevelop a neighbourhood? With its holistic approach, the East New York Community Plan is an excellent example of the success and struggles of neighbourhood planning when all relevant actors are involved. Therefore, the webinar will offer the opportunity to know the details of this plan, while showing a different planning perspective from the other side of the Atlantic.

The East New York Community Planning Plan aims to revitalize three neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, New York City, by promoting affordable housing, economic development and pedestrian-friendly streets. An effort that started in 2010 through a federal grant for regional development, since its approval in 2016 the plan has been a key part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Housing New York program. To do so, it has kept a participatory approach, guaranteeing that citizens’ views are part of the project. Therefore, the plan successfully exemplifies what integrated planning means: a wide set of local agencies are involved, with the support of the federal level. In addition, it is an interescalar plan, given that it is thought as part of a regional framework, yet acting even into the streetscape.

Consequently, the East New York case will serve as an inspiring experience for all those interested in infrastructure integration and urban redevelopment, offering the chance to learn from a different planning context and know the whereabouts of complex planning processes.

 

About the speaker

Winston Von Engel, AICP, is Director at the Brooklyn office of the New York City Department of City Planning, where he has been involved in urban regeneration projects for more than 30 years. With training as an architect and urban planner (Pratt Institute) he has been adjunct professor and speaker in renowned universities such as TU Vienna, Pratt Institute or Meiji University in Japan.

His work has focused on neighbourhood planning in Brooklyn, in different roles at the Department of City Planning. Among others, he has been part of the Downtown Brooklyn Plan, which has transformed this area into a vibrant, mixed-use centre, or the North Brooklyn Industry and Innovation Plan, a detailed study of one of the largest industrial zones of the city. Throughout his career, he has overseen various neighbourhood rezonings, always looking for better, fairer and more pleasant urban communities while building shared visions with all stakeholders.