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Introduction to Town+Gown: Possible Collaborations with the Urban Systems Collaborative A Presentation to Urban Systems Collaborative Terri Matthews, Senior Policy Advisor New York City Department of Design and Construction

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Setting the Stage for Town+Gown RAND Institute's famous 1988 study of large projects concluded that government process is the most significant driver of both public and civilian project costs

But RAND noted that the "host government makes the rules; the host government can change the rules"

“We have met the enemy and the enemy is us!” Pogo But, The built environment is a complex and dynamic social system where its issues cannot be adequately comprehended in isolation from the wider system of which they are a part Government operates in the built environment simultaneously in different capacities as if it is an aggregation of multiple personalities

� owner and client of construction services that implement its capital program, government has many concerns in common with private owners; namely, project budget, schedule, quality and safety

moreover, within any jurisdiction, there may be several public owners operating their own portions of the built environment

� regulator of built environment participants and built environment products, primarily for

public health, safety and welfare purposes

� economic development catalyst focused on specific private economic activity

� financier of its capital programs, at the state and local government levels with the issuance of tax-exempt debt, itself a form of subsidy from both federal and state government levels, and the receipt of grants from higher levels of government

All is then further complicated by the inter-related activities of several levels of government—federal, state and local—all similarly engaged What to do?

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One Problem: Inadequate Levels of Research in the Built Environment From the construction perspective

The Building Congress released a July 2008 report entitled, New York's Rising Construction Costs: Issues and Solutions, recommending a role for the public sector to increase research to foster innovation in construction operations.

From the built environment perspective

Minerva Partners released a report from a collaborative project focusing on the future of preservation entitled, Preservation Vision: Planning for the Future of Preservation in New York City, recommending an effort to undertake serious research.

Long-standing structural hurdles make increasing built environment research difficult

low levels of investment, as general proposition low levels of public sponsorship inadequate linkages between research and application fragmented nature of construction industry traditional research methodology also suffers from tendency to become fractured, dividing "knowledge into domains with particular sub-disciplines"

On the Ground: Built environment is a complex social system Research must be contextual and systemic Not needed: another research center or think tank but

A gear shift linking academics and practitioners for practically-based research project and bridging divides between them, with practitioners as equal partners in knowledge production A wheel, with spokes, turning in action-learning cycles, linking researchers and practitioners to

work that sustains future research discussions that facilitate practice and policy changes based on research

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One Solution: Town+Gown (http://www.nyc.gov/html/ddc/html/design/tg.shtml) A "systemic action research" program

Highlights the importance of practice as a source of knowledge Completed projects ("action learning sets") lead to cycle of action-reflection

Aims at collectively increasing evidence-based analysis, information transfer and understanding of the City's Built Environment

Reflection:

Dissemination of projects (Building Ideas)

and Symposia/Conversation

Events

Action: Changes in practice or

policy based on completed work—can

include future research

Research: Projects generated from

Research Agenda

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Town+Gown: Facilitates partnerships between academics and practitioners on Built Environment research projects, generating discussion and follow-up research aimed at making changes in practices and policies. Before each academic year, Town+Gown works with City agencies and graduate programs to develop a City-wide Built Environment Research Agenda During the academic year, Town+Gown supports academic-practitioner collaborations on particular research projects from the Research Agenda. Disseminates research results and fosters on-going discussions

Following end of each academic year, Town+Gown will publish its Building Ideas Review, abstracting the final project reports that are available to members of Town+Gown

Town+Gown organizes collaborative events—symposia and conferences, bringing academics and practitioners together to focus on the results of research

Town+Gown also publishes a periodic newsletter, Building Ideas Catalog, summarizing and linking to Built Environment reports and articles Consists of: Town Group—practitioners that participate in the City's built environment; so far public owner practitioners Gown Group—academic institutions with graduate and undergraduate programs in fields that overlap with Built Environment disciplines Applied Analysis and Research Group—practitioner organizations and individuals who participate actively in the program, who are neither Town nor Gown and are available to provide practical context for project researchers/investigators—AARG about to be merged into Town Advisory Group—people interested in both the Built Environment and the Town+Gown program

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The Built Environment Disciplines

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For Members of Town: What Town+Gown Can Do for You! � Facilitates bridging academic/practitioner divide for your Built Environment research questions

in service learning programs as well funded research with as professors and Ph.D. students

Can make contacts and manage relationships with academic programs, faculty advisors and student teams from project inception to "peer" review

Wide dissemination of Research Agenda gets your research questions in front of all participating schools, increasing the chances that applied research will result Academic consortium contract currently under development will facilitate procurement process for expense funds during fiscal year; also will be available to all public owner members of Town

� Develops a coherent and comprehensive Built Environment research agenda with real and

relevant questions

Helps identify cross-agency issues, multi-disciplinary issues In conjunction with experiential/service learning programs, one project can lead to various follow-up projects over time

More than one school can work on pieces of same question

� Publishes annual Building Ideas Review, abstracting students' work, presenting the results of all

projects and making the final reports available to members of Town+Gown � Sponsors collaborative discussion events for "real time" consideration of completed work among

Town+Gown members as foundation for possible changes to practices and policies � Bi-monthly Building Ideas Catalog summarizes and links to reports and articles related to the

Built Environment � A library/clearinghouse feature under development

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For Members of Gown: What Town+Gown Can Do for You! � Provides a comprehensive and coherent City-wide research agenda with real and relevant

questions focused on the Built Environment for use by:

Experiential/service learning programs in developing capstone projects, workshops, studios and internships

for various projects over time—one project can lead to a follow-up project multi-disciplinary opportunities within own institution or with other institutions

Professors to develop courses around, use as case-studies and/or work on/propose academic research projects

� Bridges academic/practitioner divide for in-service learning programs, Master’s thesis and Ph.D.

dissertations, as well as individual professors research

Can make introductions and help manage relationships with practitioner agencies from project inception to "peer" review Collaborative discussion events with members of Town and other academic institutions in Gown provide opportunities for academics to engage with public policy makers on place- and data-based inquiries and analyses, providing opportunities for future work Academic consortium contract in development will make procurement of academic services easier for members of Town, thus increasing the chances of funded research

� Increases exposure of academic work product among practitioners Publishes annual Building Ideas Review, presenting programs and academic work to a wider audience of built environment practitioners Disseminates bi-monthly Building Ideas Catalog that summarizes and links to reports and articles related to the Built Environment, that can include your own work and work from your programs, expanding the audience for your work to built environment practitioners

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Town:

Department of Aging Department of Buildings Department of City Planning Department of Citywide Administrative Services Department of Cultural Affairs Department of Design and Construction Department of Environmental Protection Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Health and Hospitals Corporation Department of Housing Preservation and Development Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Landmarks Preservation Commission Law Department Department of Parks and Recreation Department of Sanitation Department of Small Business Services Department of Transportation Mayor’s Office � Capital Project Development � Construction Services � Environmental Coordination � Management and Budget � Operations New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Design Commission Port Authority of New York and New Jersey New York Power Authority New York City Transit New York City School Construction Authority Empire State Development Corporation Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

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Gown:

Public Administration/Policy Columbia/School of International and Public Affairs NYU/Wagner School of Public Service1 New School/Milano School of Management and Urban Policy CUNY/Baruch School of Public Affairs Pace University Graduate School

Urban Planning Columbia/Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation CUNY/Hunter College, Graduate School, Departments of Urban Affairs and Urban Planning

Engineering NYU/Polytechnic Institute CUNY/Grove School of Engineering, City College of New York Manhattan College/Engineering School Cooper-Union School of Engineering New York Institute of Technology Columbia/Fu School of Engineering, Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement Architecture New School/Parsons School of Design New York Institute of Technology Columbia/Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Cooper-Union School of Architecture Pratt School of Architecture

Real Estate Development/Construction Management NYU/School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Schack Institute of Real Estate Law Brooklyn Law School/Clinical Program Business Administration Manhattan College/School of Business

1 Includes Urban Planning program.

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Town+Gown Urban Systems Collaborative

Members of Urban Systems Collaborative span the Town+Gown groups:

� Public and private sector practitioner organizations � Academic institutions

Both Urban Systems Collaborative and Town+Gown focus on:

� Built Environment � Data-based analysis

Both Urban Systems Collaborative and Town+Gown function via partnerships and collaborations—similar DNA

Next Steps: Consider joining Town+Gown:

� As organization � On individual basis

Review the Research Agenda

� Identify existing research questions of interest

� Identify questions that you think belong on Agenda

�