Reclaimed for People: Lessons Learned from New York City's Transformed Public Spaces

Abstract

A vast majority of public space is dominated by the movement and storage of cars at the expense of pedestrian safety and comfort, especially in cities in the United States. New York City transformed street space formerly dominated by auto-centric use into pedestrian plazas under the PlaNYC policy directive in 2007-2013, offering a unique opportunity to study public space reclamation for people in the US urban context. This thesis presents a theoretical framework for analyzing public space evolution and the urban forces that act upon public spaces, using five knowledge bands within this framework to categorize these urban forces. Academic literature on global examples was used to confirm the strength of the knowledge bands. Three case studies of public plazas emerging from former auto-oriented street space in New York City were explored using the framework. Lessons learned from the transformation process for these three spaces and outcomes in the present are translated into insights for future planners and decision makers who wish to understand how urban forces may contribute to street space reclaimed for pedestrian use.