Humanizing the Interborough Express (IBX)

During the second semester of the M.S. Urban Planning Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (GSAPP) students are required to participate in a studio course that provides an opportunity to take on the task of working with a client on a real-world planning related project to then address a term-long objective.

This studio was tasked with facilitating a conversation between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and New York City's Department of City Planning (Queens and Brooklyn Offices) to navigate the decision-making processes of transportation planning concerning the proposed Interborough Express (IBX). The IBX is a proposed transformative light rail rapid transit system in New York City that will address an important problem: the lack of efficient public transit connectivity between Brooklyn and Queens.

Given the early stage in the IBX development, it was found that there was an opportunity to establish a robust foundation for community engagement, relationship building, and inclusive development. Particularly, the studio investigated how they could humanize the IBX by amplifying the grassroots stories and communities that may otherwise be hard to reach in the transportation planning process. Thus, the research focus for this project was to explore humanizing the IBX through community engagement. It was decided then to create a methodological framework that could help planners and stakeholders determine the best way to engage a community about a particular topic. The studio aimed to put the framework to the test and use it to determine the most effective engagement strategy for the particular needs, and then implement it in one of the areas of interest to gather data for the clients.

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Final Presentation

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The studio proceeded to design and execute engagement activities accordingly and conducted them in Jackson Heights on April 23 and 26, 2023. The activities selected stem from the previously established research and aims:

• To Educate, which materialized as a Gallery Walk activity with which is intended to inform the community about the project.

• To Learn from, which materialized as a Co-Building Narratives activity aiming to get better insights into the grassroots stories of the community and,

• To Envision with, which translated into a 3D Map with intentions to gather, map and understand the sentiments and desires of the community.

Through this community engagement process, the implications of findings highlight the importance of identifying and addressing the thoughts and concerns of the community in the IBX's design process that could be helpful to consider and redesign for better outcomes.