This seminar offers a unique opportunity to engage deeply with urban policy issues and contribute to shaping the future of New York City.  We will explore one aspect of New York City policy and/or services each week through rigorous academic exploration, class discussion, and engagement with an expert. The issues we will discuss are complex and multi-faceted.  Cities like New York have multiple stakeholders with potentially conflicting priorities.  Therefore, our goal is not to arrive at a single answer but to understand the forces at work, tradeoffs and processes that shape where the city is now and where it can go from here. What would you do if you were the Commissioner of the Future of New York City?

Most weeks you will be expected to research the upcoming week’s topic independently, finding interesting, relevant, and important perspectives that help you formulate your thoughts.

In addition to a class focus question for the specific topic (which we will provide), you will be expected to look at the issue through 5 lenses:

1.  How much does this policy topic matter? Why? How did we get here?

2. Who are the (potentially conflicting) stakeholders (i.e. who would be the “winners” and “losers” depending on the direction of the policy)?

3. What are the most controversial aspects of the policy debates in this area and what are the main arguments?

4. What would it take to make change in this area (i.e. how would a policy change be implemented given our city governance structure)?

5. What resources are at stake (i.e. how much is currently spent or collected in this area? how would the city pay for higher services or other changes?)