ABSTRACT
The New York metropolitan region is both the archetype of and exception to all other metropolitan regions in the United States. It is the largest and most developed metropolitan region in the country, with the most integrated economy and by far the largest transit network. The metropolitan region centered around Manhattan’s central business district emanates in roughly concentric circles of governance, population, and industry. It is bordered by natural landscapes, wedged between the Atlantic Bight and the Appalachian Mountains. The region has been constructed on the intermodal armature of the automobile, railroads, waterways, and sea and air ports. At each scale it demonstrates a complex web of interconnections and legacy investments that bind hundreds of communities that have been shaped over centuries of human settlement patterns. This chapter explores the century-long history of regional design in the New York region, with synpopses of the first three regional plans, and a more detailed exposition of the current plan from 2017 as well as recovery and resilience efforts from severe storms and other events.
