• About The Campaign

last modified December 25, 2007 by admin


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COMMENT

AIA Zoning Changes

GOAL

The Community-Based Planning Task Force is leading the campaign to create a more meaningful role for communities in New York City's planning and decision-making processes. Based on the premise that the people who live and work in a neighborhood are among the best-equipped to plan the neighborhood's future, the Campaign for Community-Based Planning is laying the groundwork for the formal adoption of community-based planning as official New York City policy.

PLATFORM

New York is a diverse city composed of many different neighborhoods. Because of its size and complexity, a strictly centralized planning process is inadequate. And, while New York City has, on paper, what appears to be strong support for community-based planning, this commitment is less apparent in reality. The Campaign has identified three key principles for making community-based planning work in New York City:

  • Improve the capacity of community boards to plan
  • Build community boards' capacity to reflect the districts they represent
  • Provide communities with the tools they need to implement their plans

The Campaign's platform describes these in greater detail.

THE TASK FORCE

Organized in 2020, the Task Force is a group of environmental justice advocates, professional planners, community board members, and academics. They were motivated to act after seeing that, in some cases, plans devised by the city did not address neighborhood needs, while, at the same time, there is no effective mechanism to implement the creative, proactive plans that communities developed for their neighborhoods. The Task Force is working to promote and build support for the Campaign and its principles. See the Task Force membership, by-laws, and activities page for details.


TASK FORCE ACTIVITIES

While the preponderance of Campaign's focus is on long-term systemic change, on occasion, real-time activities occur which serve as exemplars for those things wrong with the existing system. In these instances, the Task Force seeks to bring public attention to these activities. The following serve this educational purpose:


PROJECTS AND BACKGROUND

  • 2006 - On June 2 the Task Force held Connect Celebrate Activate, the first annual networking event centered on the Campaign. Held at the Urban Center, the attendees heard from Jim Diers, former Director of Seattle’s Office of Neighborhoods and author of Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way. Council Member Tony Avella, Queens District 19, and chair of the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Read the Connect Celebrate Activate report and participate in the discussions that followed.
  • 2005 — At the request of the Charter Revision Commission, the campaign submitted recommendations for changes to the City Charter.
  • 2005 — The Community-Based Planning Task Force issued a report, Livable Neighborhoods for a Livable City, detailing specific, realistic steps New York City should take to improve the capacity of communities to make and implement plans that address their diverse needs.
  • 2004 — At Community-Based Planning in New York City: Summit 2004 summit more than 100 representatives from community-based organizations, community boards, environmental justice organizations, academic institutions and city agencies come together at the Urban Center for a series of workshops on the role of communities in New York’s planning process.
  • 2003 — The Planning Center launches CITI, the Community Information Technology Initiative, to provide community-based organizations with maps, data and technical assistance to support local planning efforts.
  • 2002 — The MAS Planning Center and Hunter College organize Planning into Practice: A Conference for Community-Based Groups, Planners & Professionals, attended by nearly 400 participants.
  • 2001 — The Campaign organizes City Council and mayoral candidate forums.
  • 2000 — The Community-Based Planning Task Force is founded by a coalition of community, environmental and professional groups.

RESOURCES

  • The Municipal Art Society and the Society's Planning Center provide inspiration and resources for the Campaign.
  • The Institute for Public Policy Research - The London based Institute for Public Policy Research is the UK’s leading progressive think tank, producing cutting edge research and innovative policy ideas for a just, democratic and sustainable world.
  • In 2005, the Community-Based Planning Task Force detailed specific, realistic steps New York City should take to improve the capacity of communities to make and implement plans that address their diverse needs. Those steps are detailed in Livable Neighborhoods for a Livable City.
      • Case studies on several American cities' experience with community-based planning may be found here.
      • Review this document for common themes found in many community-based plans.
  • The MAS Planning Center’s focus on community-based planning began with this 1998 report that documents the difficulties inherent to 197-a planning, the official avenue for creating community-based plans in New York City. The State of 197-a Planning.
  • In 2005 The BeyondVoting Wiki was initated to explore ways New York City's governance structure could be improved by integrating information and decision-making technologies. BeyondVoting begins with a look at the city's current operation, reviews recent technology based governance experiences, and discusses possible technology infusions that might create a more representative and responsive government. BeyondVoting identifies various limitations of the current and suggests 31 areas where improvements might be made. See Opportunities for Change here and contribute to the BeyondVoting Wiki.
  • The San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association's excellent website.
  • Minnesota's Community-Based Planning Act
  • The Calendar of CC-BP events.
  • Terminology of Community Building


CAMPAIGN ENDORSEMENTS

Eight City Council members, 12 community boards, and numerous civic organizations like Citizens Union, Regional Plan Association and the Pratt Center for Community Development have already endorsed the Campaign for Community-Based Planning. See the full list of Campaign endorsers and sign on today.


FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Chavez Allocates $5 Billion to Communal Councils

[From Steven Mather at Venezuelanalysis.com]

Caracas, January 10, 2007 — The Venezuelan government announced Monday that $5 billion dollars will be available for the new participatory democratic institutions the Communal Councils in 2007... The Communal Councils came into being in April 2006 with the passing of the Communal Council Law by the National Assembly. They are intended to provide a participatory democratic body for communities to manage and develop themselves. Prior to the law... there were separate projects such as the Social Missions and the Urban Land Committees. The new institution is designed to pull these distinct programs together... The funds will be for education, construction, transport, health, agriculture and housing related projects... “If the projects are cross community managed they will be given more and if the community uses the funds well there will also be more money for new projects.” ...

The idea is that there is a community of around 200 – 400 families for each Communal Council and all members of each community over the age of 15 can participate in the process and put forward ideas for development. In a speech on Monday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suggested that as the Communal Councils spread they will also deepen and will become the new Venezuelan state taking over what he described as the old “bourgeois state”. more...


IN THE NEWS


SPECIAL NOTE

Since its early days, the Community-Based Planning Task Force has been provided with the expert staff assistance of the Municipal Art Society's Planning Center. The Center helps community organizations and neighborhood advocates confront the planning, land use, and economic development issues facing their neighborhoods. Through public forums, workshops, publications and one-on-one assistance, the Center tackles neighborhood issues at grassroots and citywide levels.

The Task Force offers its gratitude and highest recommendation to the Municipal Art Society and its Planning Center's staff.

Related Pages

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Questions about the Campaign should be sent to planning@mas.org.