The first pages of Chapter 5 of Larson’s Text present the main conflict of urban planning, experts in urban planning assuming that they know what is right and the communities that they affect have virtually no say in the matter. After the decline of manufacturing jobs and the decline of New York City, government officials and planners were looking to revitalize the City. They began to do this by transitioning into a service economy, that catered to private business, white-collared workers, and real estate developers.  New businesses must be built along with new infrastructure to attract tourists. These new plans, as laid out by RPA Yaro and Hiss’s A Region at RIsk, were described as modernizing and globalizing a city through a combination of Mose’s and Jacob’s urban planning styles. These plans defined neoliberalism and its approach, as government rezoned areas for maximum profit by catering to private companies. Contemporary planning, practiced by Bloomberg, becomes another version of the top-down approach seen in other eras of New York history that neglects the needs of the people due to grand plans by experts, which normal citizens are deemed not qualified to answer and do not partake in the process. Although, the planners attempt to avoid these problems by offering ‘public spaces’ in certain developments, these features are not useful and do not make an impact. Admittedly, the updates for the waterfronts and parks have been nice, but these are not intended to serve people in the community but rather increase property costs and attract tourism. The government rezones places, wealthy new comers move into certain areas, which attract investors and developers. Do these grand plans made by experts truly determine the best course for the future? The condos being built can easily double the population of New York City and require demolition of smaller homes. Admittedly, condos are geared towards wealthier professionals who are single or married. Do these spaces allow for families to grow? Where will children go to school or play? Can the transportation system support these numbers? How congested will the city become? Will it affect the quality of life? Where will we store and process the food to support these growing populations if industrial places are becoming rezoned? Where will the people at the bottom of this growth machine, who are not part of these exclusive communities live? Will this increase homeless? Most of these plans include lots of building, but I am not convince that they have much foresight.

Discussion Question: Does this style of contemporary planning work for long term stability?