On Saturdays, our NYC workshop meets for bagels and coffee before embarking out into the city on a walking tour led by our professor and AAP NYC executive director, Bob Balder. Last week we analyzed different building typologies around the city, and the importance of zoning. It is evident that although zoning is a series of codes intended to protect public spaces, they are often manipulated without honorable intention to the benefit of private development and real estate. The skyscrapers casting shade on Central Park is one such example – a shortsighted development resulting in high profit in the short term, only to degrade the integrity of the urban fabric in the long term. Those who have the patience and endurance to work towards shaping cities into more liveable, greener and equitable spaces will need to coordinate with one another to make these ideas a reality.
