ABSTRACT

In 1922, some of the region’s most

prominent urban planning experts and
civic leaders joined forces to survey,
analyze, and develop a comprehensive
plan to make the region a better place to
work and live.
Submitted by Raavee Vats
B Plan, III Year

NEW YORK
REGIONAL
PLAN
A Review
Contents
.......................................................................................................................................... 3
1929 - First Regional Plan ................................................................................................. 3
1922 - First Meeting of the Committee on the Plan of New York and its Environs .......... 3
1923 – The announcement ............................................................................................ 4
1927 - Regional Survey of New York and its Environs, Volumes I-VIII ........................... 5
1929 - RPA’s Incorporation – First Regional Plan of New York ...................................... 5
1930s - How Swamp Lands May Be Reclaimed ............................................................. 6
1931 - RPA’s First Bulletin ............................................................................................. 7
1933 - The Rebuilding of Blighted Areas ........................................................................ 7
1968 – The Second Regional Plan .................................................................................... 8
1973 - Committee on Minority Affairs (COMA) ............................................................... 9
1978 – National Urban Policy ....................................................................................... 10
1992 – The New Jersey Brownfields ............................................................................ 10
1993 – Building Metropolitan Greensward.................................................................... 10
1996 - A Regional Risk: The Third Regional Plan ............................................................ 11
1999 - What to Do With the High Line? ........................................................................ 11
2006 – Newark Draft Vision Plan ................................................................................. 12
2007 - Transportation Megaprojects............................................................................. 12
2010 – A Transit-Oriented Future For Connecticut ....................................................... 12
2017 - The Fourth Regional Plan .................................................................................. 13
2018 – Inclusive City .................................................................................................... 13
2019 – Congestion Pricing ........................................................................................... 14
2020s – Climate resilience ........................................................................................... 14
Chapter 2 – Planning Concepts and Mechanism................................................................. 15
Concept of Urban Densification ....................................................................................... 15
Loop Road Concept......................................................................................................... 15
Neighbourhood Unit Concept .......................................................................................... 16
Traffic Sector Concept ..................................................................................................... 16
Alternate concept pf regional Rail Transport .................................................................... 17
Public participation in Regional Planning ......................................................................... 18
River City Concept........................................................................................................... 19
Brownfield Development .................................................................................................. 19
Urban Space For pedestrians .......................................................................................... 20
Transit Oriented Development ......................................................................................... 21

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Climate Resilience Concept............................................................................................. 21
Economic Development Practices ................................................................................... 22
Sustainable Development Goals...................................................................................... 23
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 23
References ...................................................................................................................... 24

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Chapter 1: The History of Regional Planning in New York

1929 - First Regional Plan

Since 1929, the Regional Plan Association has released four long-range plans to guide the
growth and development of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area. These
efforts have shaped and improved the region’s economic health, environmental
sustainability, and quality of life. Ideas and recommendations put forth in these plans have
led to the establishment of some of the region’s most significant infrastructure, open space,
and economic development projects.

1922 - First Meeting of the Committee on the Plan of New York and its
Environs

Regional Plan Association’s origins can be traced back to the early 1920s when the Russell
Sage Foundation appointed the Committee on the Plan of New York and its Environs. The
Committee’s goal was to plan the development of the region and enhance the quality of life
of residents, without regard to political boundaries. The first Committee meeting was held on
May 10, 1922 and included attendees such as Herbert Hoover, Charles Dyer Norton, Elihu
Root, Lillian Wald, Charles Dana Gibson, and Mrs. August Belmont.

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1923 – The announcement

Figure 1 Plan Announced to Develop City and

Environs

Figure 2 Suggested Rearrangement of Gramercy Park

Figure 3 Railroad Commuting Time To and

From New York City Terminals

Figure 4 1914-1923 Land Values Manhattan

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1927 - Regional Survey of New York and its Environs, Volumes I-VIII

From 1927 to 1929, a series of ten technical volumes on

manufacturing, transportation, and community planning were
published as precursors to the first Regional Plan.

1929 - RPA’s Incorporation – First Regional Plan of New York

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Regional Plan Association was formally incorporated in 1929 to foster county, city, town, and
village planning, and to help make the First Regional Plan a reality.

The first Regional Plan of New York

The first Regional Plan had its roots in Chicago. The 1909 Burnham Plan for Chicago helped
reshape the city and was a major influence on the field of urban planning. One of the
supporters of the 1909 Plan was Charles Dyer Norton, a member of the Commercial Club in
Chicago. It was this success in Chicago that inspired Norton to launch a comparable effort in
New York.

1930s - How Swamp Lands May Be Reclaimed

The Meadowlands are wetlands located in Northern New

Jersey that serve as a sanctuary for wildlife and a critical
convergence of infrastructure. At the turn of the century,
several planners in Newark and New York wanted to
develop rather than preserve the Meadowlands as open
space. In 1930, RPA released a report that recommended
filling in the Meadowlands to create a city large enough to
accommodate five million people. The cost of filling in the
“swamp lands” was estimated to be $125 million in 1930. In
later years, RPA would come to recognize the importance of
preserving wetlands.

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1931 - RPA’s First Bulletin
“The housing problem is essentially social, but it cannot be solved without taking into
consideration the economic factors with which it is inseparably associated.”

1933 - The Rebuilding of Blighted Areas

“The Rebuilding of Blighted Areas” is a Depression-era book that defined blight and
suggested policy solutions, such as public housing projects and slum clearance through
eminent domain. It specifically highlighted Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In earlier
publications, RPA recommended the construction of a riverfront park of 50 to 100 acres and
the acquisition of a number of playgrounds to improve living conditions in the Lower East
Side.

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1968 – The Second Regional Plan
By the early 1960s, the recommendations of RPA’s First Regional Plan were largely
implemented, with one glaring exception: the transit connections. The failure of the region to
invest in transit, along with an explosive growth in car ownership and Federal policies that
supported new construction outside of city centers, led to the unprecedented
suburbanization of the New York region after World War II.

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1973 - Committee on Minority Affairs (COMA)
The Committee on Minority Affairs
(COMA) was composed of 57
members, chaired by H. Carl McCall,
President, Inner City Broadcasting Corp
and chairman of the editorial board of
the Amsterdam News, and led by
Executive Director Junius Williams, a
Newark attorney. It was established
because Black and Puerto Rican
members of RPA noted that urging
residents to engage in planning for their
communities, while giving little voice to
Black and Puerto Rican members in
planning for that involvement, was
contradictory. To strengthen the
CHOICES project, RPA allocated a
large portion of project funds to COMA
and COMA had autonomy in their
engagement with residents. COMA
provided their own background reading
and questionnaires for the town halls
focused on housing and poverty.

1977 - Public Transportation and Land

Use Policy
RPA’s 1976 study,“Where Transit Works:
Urban Densities for Public
Transportation,” and its follow-up report,
“Public Transportation and Land Use
Policy,” provided quantitative guidelines to
help metropolitan areas of all sizes decide
what kind of public transportation to build.
The latter report documented the land use
patterns and residential densities that are
required to support public transportation
modes, including heavy and light rail, and
express and local buses.

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1978 – National Urban Policy
In 1978, President Jimmy Carter announced the first National Urban Policy, which reflected
many of RPA’s recommendations. In a telegram sent to RPA on the eve of its 50th
anniversary dinner, President Carter stated that RPA’s support and leadership had been
critical for his administration’s policy

1992 – The New Jersey Brownfields

There are tens of thousands of brownfield sites, or
potentially contaminated underutilized land, across
the U.S. RPA’s Metropolitan Brownfields Initiative
was a multi-year project in the 1990s that reviewed
brownfields that could be recycled and revitalized
within New Jersey. Staff members inventoried a
number of sites, including former industrial properties,
abandoned waterfronts, and other environmentally
degraded landscapes, and assisted communities in
reclaiming them. The final report of the Brownfields
initiative, “Making Redevelopment Accessible in New
Jersey,” was published in 1998.

1993 – Building Metropolitan Greensward

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1996 - A Regional Risk: The Third Regional Plan
The Third Plan warned that, without major investments in the economy, equity, and the
environment, the region would be at risk of a slow and painful recovery from the economic
downturn of the early 1990s.

1999 - What to Do With the High Line?

2003 - The Mayor’s Institute on Design

The Mayors’ Institute on Design was a multi-year program to promote better planning and
community development.

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2006 – Newark Draft Vision Plan

2007 - Transportation
Megaprojects
Several transportation megaprojects in
New York City have been completed or are
under construction, thanks to the advocacy
of Empire State Transportation Alliance (ESTA), an RPA-led coalition of more than 40 civic

2010 – A Transit-Oriented Future For Connecticut

Connecticut took steps to address its
public transportation gaps at the turn
of the century. In 2010, the Transit
for Connecticut coalition
commissioned a study by RPA that
analyzed vehicle trip patterns to
determine where additional public
transit service might serve the most
new riders. Around that same time,
the New Haven - Hartford -
Springfield corridor received High-
Speed Rail stimulus funding, and the
Hartford - New Britain Busway was
expected to receive federal New
Starts funding

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2017 - The Fourth Regional Plan
The Fourth Regional Plan sought to address issues such as housing affordability,
overburdened transportation infrastructure, and vulnerability to climate change by
addressing the underlying shortcomings in the region’s governance structures.

2018 – Inclusive City

Following a year of meetings, a working group of
more than 40 organizations and elected officials
released a white paper containing recommendations
on how to make New York City’s land use governance
more inclusive, especially of community voices. The
“Inclusive City” report sparked a renewed conversation
about comprehensive city planning in New York.

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2019 – Congestion Pricing

For decades, RPA called for the

implementation of congestion pricing,
which is based on the principle that
vehicles should be charged for the public
costs that they impose. Pricing traffic
congestion can create a more efficient
transportation system, reduce air
pollution, and achieve better public
health outcomes. In 2019, RPA and
other transit leaders celebrated the
passage of historic congestion pricing
legislation in New York. Just months
after the bill was passed, RPA became
the first organization to release a report
about how to implement congestion
pricing in Manhattan, with
recommendations on system design, implementation, and pricing, including two-way tolling
into the congestion zone, variable pricing throughout the day, and limiting exemptions.

2020s – Climate resilience

Making Offshore Wind Transmission Work for Communities

RPA released Making Offshore Wind

Transmission Work for Communities in
June. The report incorporated the
perspectives of various stakeholders in
considering how to most smoothly
implement the use of offshore wind as a
renewable energy source in New York and
New Jersey.

Hurricane Mitigation

On the one-year and ten-year anniversaries of

Hurricane Ida and Superstorm Sandy,
respectively, RPA’s Preventing Another
Ida report outlined how New York City and State should address the growing flood risks
facing thousands of New Yorkers, especially those living in basement apartments.

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 Chapter 2 – Planning Concepts and Mechanism

Concept of Urban Densification

The city was developed keeping in mind the CBT model and densified much in center. The
land value and plot sizes vary as per the distance from the CBT.

Loop Road Concept

The metropolitan highways were developed
in a loop to bypass the traffic and reduce
congestion and pollution in the city.

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Neighbourhood Unit Concept
RPA’s design principles for neighborhoods, such as garden apartments, walkable shopping
centers, and minimal through-traffic, were put in place in areas like Fresh Meadows and
Forest Hills Gardens in Queens, as well as Radburn, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Radburn
was designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, with Thomas Adams, RPA’s Director of
Plans and Surveys, consulting on the project. Though construction was halted by the
Depression, Radburn is still upheld as a prime example of neighborhood design.

Traffic Sector Concept

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Alternate concept pf regional Rail Transport

In the early 1960s, the railroad companies in the region were approaching bankruptcy. RPA
discussed with legislators the idea of placing private railroads in public ownership, and
creating one agency that would own and operate a tri-state regional network. There were
many obstacles, both physical and political. Eventually, a compromise was reached: multiple
public rail agencies would be created. As of 2020, residents still had to negotiate three
separate rail systems: LIRR, Metro-North, and NJ Transit. RPA maintained that the
continued separateness of the tri-state rail system had to be addressed.

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Public participation in Regional Planning
RPA was an innovator in using mass media to involve the public in planning decisions.
Goals for the Region was a town hall meeting series that used television, listener groups,
and written questionnaires to survey approximately 5,600 people about regional planning.

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River City Concept

In the 1980s, the New Jersey side of the

Hudson River was one of the few
underdeveloped areas near New York
City. RPA argued for the waterfront to be
continuous as well as welcoming for
pedestrians, cyclists, and boaters, and
proposed light rail service. Ferry service
across the Hudson was restored later in
the 1980s, and private development
increased in the 1980s and 1990s,
leading to a renewed Hudson River
waterfront but also gentrification along
the coast

Brownfield Development

There are tens of thousands of

brownfield sites, or potentially
contaminated underutilized land, across
the U.S. RPA’s Metropolitan Brownfields
Initiative was a multi-year project in the
1990s that reviewed brownfields that
could be recycled and revitalized within
New Jersey. Staff members inventoried a
number of sites, including former
industrial properties, abandoned
waterfronts, and other environmentally
degraded landscapes, and assisted
communities in reclaiming them. The final
report of the Brownfields initiative,
“Making Redevelopment Accessible in
New Jersey,” was published in 1998.

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Urban Space For pedestrians
The Second Regional Plan and RPA’s “Urban Space
for Pedestrians” report proposed closing Broadway to
traffic in Midtown Manhattan. Times Square’s
pedestrian makeover was finally achieved in 2009.
The pedestrianization of Herald, Madison and Union
squares, as well as dozens of other pedestrian-
oriented improvements across New York City,
followed.

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Transit Oriented Development

Connecticut took steps to address its public transportation gaps at the turn of the century. In
2010, the Transit for Connecticut coalition commissioned a study by RPA that analyzed
vehicle trip patterns to determine where additional public transit service might serve the most
new riders. Around that same time, the New Haven - Hartford - Springfield corridor received
High Speed Rail stimulus funding, and the Hartford - New Britain Busway was expected to
receive federal New Starts funding. RPA argued that these two projects, along with other
efforts statewide to expand bus and rail service, would provide Connecticut communities
with a level of transit access that had been absent for generations. To reap the greatest
economic, mobility, and environmental benefits, RPA stated that their implementation must
go hand in hand with land use planning for transit-oriented and walkable downtowns and
neighborhoods. It would help break the State’s dependence on cars and achieve carbon
reduction goals.

Climate Resilience Concept

Hurricane Sandy made landfall on
October 29, 2012. The storm devastated
communities in the U.S., killing more than
150 people and heavily impacting
infrastructure systems. RPA launched a
scenario planning effort to help
municipalities make reconstruction
decisions. It provided a framework to
inform rebuilding decisions so that they
advanced regional coastal adaptation,
strengthened local capacity, and built
more community resilience.

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Economic Development Practices

Multiple models of economic development are integrated to form a comprehensive

development model for the New York – Connecticut region with an emphasis on inclusive
economic growth and reduction in rich–poor gaps.

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Sustainable Development Goals

The regional plan does not directly mention the integration of SDGs but incorporates a city-
level mission – OneNYC, to promote sustainable development.

Conclusion
Regional Plan of New York and its Environs promotes a holistic development of the city with
a focus of expanding transport connectivity, affordability, and inclusion in the region. The
region has evolved with a legacy of planning mechanisms and holds an inspirational trail for
others to come.

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References
(No date). Available at:
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/international/downloads/pdf/ACityWithGlobalGoals_merged
%20Part%20I%20and%20II_spreads.pdf (Accessed: 15 April 2024).

The Fourth Regional Plan (no date) RPA. Available at: https://rpa.org/work/reports/the-
fourth-regional-plan#nine-flagship-places (Accessed: 15 April 2024).

A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan (no date) RPA. Available at:
https://rpa.org/work/reports/a-region-at-risk-the-third-regional-plan (Accessed: 15 April
2024).

Regional Plan Association’s 100-Year History in New York City (no date) RPA. Available at:
https://rpa.org/work/reports/regional-plan-associations-100-year-history-in-nyc
(Accessed: 15 April 2024).

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