A new case study provides an in-depth look at how the City of New York developed its sustainability plan, PlaNYC, and how this planning process laid the groundwork for New York’s emergence as a leading sustainable city.
ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA developed “The Process Behind PlaNYC” in collaboration with the City of New York’s Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability to help other cities, towns, and counties meet their sustainability goals through similar action-oriented plans.
PlaNYC, which was released three years ago on Earth Day 2007, contains 10 major goals and 127 initiatives that address how to accommodate one million more people in an already dense city, while at the same time reducing the City’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% and improving its infrastructure.
ICLEI credits the following 10 factors for the success of PlaNYC:
- Strong mayoral leadership and cooperation between the Mayor’s Office and City Council
- A group of dedicated city agency staff performed in-depth research and analysis, involving extensive coordination and collaboration between the agencies
- A methodical, transparent, and inclusive planning process
- Central management and coordination provided by the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability
- An external Sustainability Advisory Board to provide best practice advice and guidance
- A comprehensive public outreach process to generate broad public support and to help educate the general public about climate change and sustainability issues
- Strategic release of the plan by the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, which coordinated its announcements with key stakeholders
- Inclusion in the plan of an implementation plan with a timeline and a funded budget
- Swift transition from planning to action: the City is actively implementing all 127 initiatives
- Openness for innovation and policy-making not driven by politics or business as usual
The PlaNYC case study is a companion resource to ICLEI’s previously released Sustainability Planning Toolkit–also based on the PlaNYC model–which walks local governments through ICLEI’s Five Milestones for Sustainability process. Both resources provide invaluable information for local governments.
“This is ICLEI’s mission,” said Martin Chavez, ICLEI USA Executive Director: “to help our network of 600
local governments in the U.S. (and more than 1,200 globally) share ideas
and learn from one another to address climate change and improve the
sustainability and quality of life of their communities.”
To download the free PlaNYC case study and other resources visit the website below.
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