The Social Construction of Planning and Urban Redevelopment in New York City Public Discourse and the Rezoning of Williamsburg and Greenpoint

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Brain, David

Keywords

Redevelopment, Zoning, Discourse

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

This thesis looks at how the changing structure of political participation in New York City has elevated the importance of public discourse in effecting city change. Comparing the land-use processes of the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo in the 1970�s and 1980�s with the experience of the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint at the turn of the century shows that broadening the scope of citizen participation in land-use decision-making has politically empowered historically marginalized groups and individuals. Social, political and economic upheaval in the 1970�s lead to changes in the structure of land-use planning that by the turn of the century gave local residents in Williamsburg and Greenpoint a direct role in various city processes, including zoning and comprehensive planning. Though this was a purely advisory role, it afforded a coalition of workingclass residents, artists and local manufacturers the time and expertise to formulate an alternative vision for their neighborhood and a political position that allowed them to utilize controversy to discursively propagate that vision. But because local residents depended on controversy to promote their interests, their proposals were structurally limited. This thesis ends with an alternative land-use planning vision that perhaps more effectively utilizes community participation to enfranchise marginalized people and neighborhoods.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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