A PIE stimulus paper on New York, "A City of Neighbourhoods" is now available on the PIE web site. The paper was written by Peter Kearns, the Co-director of PIE, based on research and discussions during a visit to New York in April to stay with family who live in one of the historic neighbourhoods of New York.

The focus of the paper is on the preservation and enhancement of the neighbourhoods of New York through the growing influence of place making ideas, the role of civil society organisations, entrepreneurial action by individuals, and initiatives to preserve the heritage aspects of neighbourhoods. The cumulative impact of these influences gives a distinctive New York approach to enhancing the significance of local communities in contributing to the ethos and spirit of large cities. Whether there are lessons in this approach for other cities is a question raised by the paper.

It is hoped that the paper will encourage  other papers and blog contributions on other aspects of New York such as education and lifelong learning, culture, governance, and economic development.

Peter Kearns