The Fall 2025 Studio prepared frameworks for community engagement and Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs). Now, it is time to strategize how Dayton and the Airport City Newark Coalition can utilize CBAs in negotiations with future developers. By doing so, the ACNC can ensure that new projects deliver meaningful and equitable benefits to local residents.
Topic
Urban Planning Studios
Studio: Decarbonizing NYC’s Low-to-Moderate-Income Buildings
To ensure that LL97 implementation does not jeopardize housing stability, this studio report recommends allowing block-level compliance in low-income areas, establishing tailored timelines for Section 321 properties, and expanding financial support for deep retrofits.
Studio: Newark’s EWR Transit-Oriented Community
The Graduate Planning Studio of Spring 2025 is essential because it marks a significant shift in how Dayton and the South Ward of Newark are recognized within the broader regional transit network. Historically, these areas were invisible regarding transit access and public investment.
Placement of New Jersey Harm Reduction Centers
The purpose of this studio is to study the provision and implementation of HRC’s (Harm Reduction Centers) in New Jersey by directive of the public law signed into effect in 2021. In addition to existing HRC’s in 7 different locations, the NJDOH (Department of Health) is specifically interested in the implementation of vending machines and mobile units.
Penn Express: Mending the Gaps in Pennsylvania’s Bus Network
projects outlines a plan for PennDOT to launch 12 new bus routes connecting 85 communities across the state under the brand Penn Express.
Rising Tides – Tackling Housing & Resilience in New Jersey’s Meadowlands
The studio team, led by Professor Barbara Faga in Fall 2023, analyzed areas for new affordable housing in the New Jersey Meadowlands District, an ecologically sensitive and economically valuable location in North Jersey.
Reimagining Circulation in Somerset County, NJ
This Studio Class has worked with the Somerset County Office of Planning, Policy and Economic Development to explore strategies that would complement and leverage the new vision for public transportation in Somerset County.
The Greenway, NJDEP
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) acquired approximately nine miles of an abandoned Norfolk Southern rail line that passes through eight municipalities in Essex and Hudson counties. NJDEP envisions converting the land into a new State Park in the form of a multi-modal greenway. This Spring 2023 studio, led by Barbara Faga, is beautifully outlined in this StoryMap.
Meadowlands Resilience Planning
This Spring 2023 studio report includes an evaluation of existing resilience planning in the New Jersey Hackensack Meadowlands District and the larger Meadowlands region with recommendations on possible next steps for promoting science-informed, and equitable climate adaptation. The studio was a collaborative effort with the National Science Foundation Coastlines and People Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub
Jersey City Mobility Hub Feasibility Study
With the city's existing transportation conditions in mind and a goal of providing last-mile connections and facilitating otherwise difficult crosstown travel, this graduate planning studio class aims to support the City of Jersey City Department of Transportation's...