With her patrician manner and focused attention to the quality of buildings and public space, New York City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden has become a controversial figure in the city's planning and development circles.
"Whether walking up and down 368 blocks in Jamaica, Queens, to see which streets can accommodate 12-story buildings, or grabbing a tape measure from her desk to set the dimensions of seating in public plazas across the city, Ms. Burden is leaving an indelible legacy of how all five boroughs will look and feel for decades to come."
"She has earned many admirers in planning circles, along with detractors, and few would disagree that she is leaving her imprint on New York."
"In many areas that now bear her stamp, community advocates have welcomed Ms. Burden's efforts. But there is still criticism that the administration has little interest in genuine community planning and that Ms. Burden focuses too intently on the microfibers of a plan and ignores larger threads in the urban fabric like transportation, schools or sewer capacity."
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research