Process & Framework

LMDC, in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has taken a leading role in coordinating the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site with the rest of Lower Manhattan.

In addition to leading the redevelopment efforts, LMDC has also recognized the importance of involving the public in the rebuilding process. We have worked to publicize our efforts, soliciting input and feedback from the public at each stage of the planning process. LMDC has participated in events like Listening to the City, a town hall forum in July 2002 that allowed nearly 5,000 members of the public to discuss, challenge, and enrich our goals for redeveloping the World Trade Center site. Engaging the public in an ongoing redevelopment dialogue has allowed LMDC to formulate and refine its overall planning goals for the World Trade Center site and, more broadly, for Lower Manhattan.

The immediate impact of our open and inclusive planning process became clear with the launching of an international search for Innovative Designers to develop new strategies for rebuilding the World Trade Center site. After the release of nine plans in December 2002, LMDC set out again on an extensive public outreach campaign that included an exhibit of the plans at the Winter Garden, two large-scale public hearings, and the posting of the plans on this website. Our efforts resulted in over 12,000 thoughtful comments from all over the City, the nation and the world, with the exhibit alone attracting over 100,000 people.

Beyond the site, LMDC efforts have proceeded with the aim of linking the revitalization of various Lower Manhattan neighborhoods into a series of vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods, with the pending World Trade Center redevelopment as a focal point for new or enhanced development.

Working jointly with the New York City Departments of City Planning, Transportation and Economic Development, as well as other agencies, LMDC has released a series of Requests For Proposals / Qualifications to hire consultants to tackle these and other issues fueling revitalization and redevelopment efforts. With studies for many projects already underway, these off-site efforts will complement and enhance development slated for the World Trade Center site.

Radiating from the pivotal point of the World Trade Center site itself, off-site revitalization projects will address a range of planning, design, and development issues, including: creating usable open spaces, developing residential uses, expanding and diversifying retail, leisure, and cultural uses, improving parks and the public realm, and improving transportation and access conditions.

An urban design and traffic study for the area of Greenwich Street south as well as a retail and arts / entertainment study for Fulton Street and areas east of Broadway will help to cultivate two new neighborhoods directly adjacent to the World Trade Center site. Examination of new design strategies for West Street and alternative development uses for the approaches to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel will further help to create a linked series of vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan. A study devoted to enhancements in the public realm will help to develop a strategy for the reconstruction and linking of many individual open spaces throughout Lower Manhattan. Slightly further from the site, a study to develop transportation and traffic improvements in Chinatown will provide additional connections between isolated areas of Lower Manhattan.

Additionally, a separate transportation study examines existing rail, bus, and other transit conditions on and near the World Trade Center site. Based on its findings, the study presents ways to improve the passenger environment and accessibility between the World Trade Center site and surrounding areas of Lower Manhattan, New York City's major airports, and the entire metropolitan region.

View the Principles and Revised Blueprint for the Future of Lower Manhattan