New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC)
HR&A shaped New York City’s approach to sustainability and equity through leadership of two landmark planning initiatives spanning over a decade. Our strategic planning for PlaNYC (2007-2011) and OneNYC (2015, 2019) positioned NYC as a national leader in municipal climate action while evolving the city’s governance framework to center equity, ultimately aligning $117 billion in capital investments with community-driven priorities.
Beginning with PlaNYC in 2007 under Mayor Bloomberg, HR&A worked as part of a multi-disciplinary team to establish comprehensive frameworks for sustainable urban development that positioned New York as a national leader in municipal climate action. The team managed complex transportation planning initiatives, coordinated interagency working groups across departments, including DOT and EDC, and developed policy foundations that led to breakthrough programs like the nation’s first municipal brownfield cleanup initiative. When Mayor de Blasio sought to expand this work through OneNYC and to introduce equity and resilience as critical pillars for the city’s future economic growth, HR&A led the citywide strategy in 2015 and again in 2019, while contributing particularly to analysis for the plans’ economic, transportation, and housing initiatives. HR&A also orchestrated an even more ambitious planning process that by 2019 brought together more than 70 city agencies while engaging 16,000 residents through community forums, surveys, and neighborhood meetings to ensure diverse voices shaped policy directions.
PlaNYC and OneNYC each represented fundamental evolutions in municipal planning by integrating sustainability and equity as core priorities alongside traditional goals of growth, establishing a model that influenced urban planning nationwide. The resulting plans directly informed executive budget processes: In 2019, the City proposed $117 billion in capital programming aligned with OneNYC initiatives, demonstrating how strategic planning can translate community priorities into concrete policy outcomes and lasting municipal infrastructure.
