Town+Gown facilitates partnerships between academics and city agencies to conduct research on New York City's built environment. Each year, it develops a research agenda of priority questions in collaboration with agencies and graduate programs. During the academic year, Town+Gown supports student projects that address agenda items. It then disseminates results and hosts discussions to influence practices and policies. The program bridges the divide between research and practice to promote evidence-based decision making.

1. 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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2. 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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3. 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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4. 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)
Research: Projects and
generated from Symposia/Conversation
Research Agenda Events
Action:
Changes in practice or
policy based on
completed work—can
include future research
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6. 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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7. The Built Environment Disciplines
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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. 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
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Includes Urban Planning program.
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12. 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
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