Regional Plan Association announced the leadership of the Fourth Regional Plan, a multiyear research and public engagement initiative to create a blueprint for our common prosperity, sustainability and governance in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region for the next 25 years.

This comprehensive effort to address our most pressing challenges will be co-chaired by Rohit T. Aggarwala and Paul Francis. They will be joined on the Committee on the Fourth Regional Plan by a distinguished slate of 50 civic, community and business leaders who share a desire to ensure our region’s success.

Aggarwala is one of the country’s leading experts on fostering sustainable cities. He is a principal at Bloomberg Associates, where he leads the sustainability practice, and advises Michael R. Bloomberg in his capacity as United Nations Special Envoy on Cities and Climate Change. He was the director of long-term planning and sustainability for New York City from 2006 to 2010, where he led the development of the landmark PlaNYC to envision a sustainable future for New York City. From 2010 to 2013, he guided the reorganization of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and founded the environmental grant-making program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. He also is a professor of practice in international and public affairs at Columbia University.

Francis has a long record of leadership and service in the public and private sectors. He served in the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as director of agency redesign and efficiency and as co-chair of the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission. He also held senior positions in the Spitzer and Paterson administrations. He spent 25 years in the private sector, as a lawyer, investment banker, venture capitalist and corporate executive. He was the founding chief financial officer of Priceline.com and also served as chief operating officer of the financial-products division of Bloomberg LP. He currently is a distinguished senior fellow at the Frank J. Guarini Center on Environmental & Land Use Law at New York University School of Law. He also serves on the board of directors of the New York State Health Foundation and the board of trustees of NYU Law School.

Joining Aggarwala and Francis on the Committee on the Fourth Regional Plan are:

Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones, Program Officer, Long Island Community Foundation

Roland Anglin, Director & Associate Research Professor, The Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University Newark

Richard Bagger, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Strategic Market Access, Celgene Corporation

Eugenie Birch, Chair and Professor, University of Pennsylvania School of Design

Michael Brotchner, Executive Director, Sustainable South Bronx

Joseph Carbone, President & CEO, The WorkPlace, Inc.

Vishaan Chakrabarti, Marc Holliday Professor of Real Estate, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation

David Church, Planning Commissioner, Orange County, New York

Jeremy Creelan, Partner, Jenner & Block

Candace Damon, Vice Chairman, HR&A

Jonathan Drapkin, President & CEO, Pattern for Progress

Kim Elliman, President & CEO, Open Space Institute

Daniel Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University

Adam Friedman, Executive Director, Pratt Center for Community Development

Marianne Garvin, President & CEO, Community Development Corporation of Long Island

Ingrid Gould Ellen, Paulette Godard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at NYU Wagner; Faculty Director, NYU Furman Center

Maxine Griffith, Executive Vice President Government and Community Affairs, Columbia University

Elaine Gross, President, ERASE Racism

Ashok Gupta, Director of Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council

Rosanne Haggerty, President & CEO, Community Solutions

Jeanne Herb, Associate Director, Environmental Analysis and Communications Group, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University

Patricia Jenny, Vice President for Grants, New York Community Trust

Charles Kuperus, Kuperus Farmside Gardens & Florist

Kevin Law, President & CEO, Long Island Association

Mark Lesko, Executive Director, Accelerate Long Island

Robert Lieber, Executive Director, C-III Capital Partners

Debbie Mans, Baykeeper & Executive Director, NY/NJ Baykeeper

Joseph McGee, Vice President of Public Policy & Programs, The Business Council of Fairfield County

Elizabeth Murphy, Director, Creative New Jersey

John Nolon, Professor of Law, Pace University School of Law

Guy Nordenson, Professor, Princeton University

Mitch Pally, Chief Executive Officer, Long Island Builders Institute, Inc.

Jerilyn Perine, Executive Director, Citizens Housing & Planning Council

Peter Reinhart, Director, Kislak Real Estate Institute at Monmouth University

Sharon Roerty, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Steve Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Scenic Hudson Inc.

Janette Sadik-Khan, Principal, Bloomberg Associates

Elliot G. Sander, President & CEO, The HAKS Group, Inc.; Chairman, Regional Plan Association

Robert Santy, President & CEO, Connecticut Economic Resource Center

John Shapiro, Chair, City and Regional Planning, Pratt School of Architecture

Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Eileen Swan, Policy Manager, New Jersey Conservation Foundation

Tupper Thomas, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Parks

Elizabeth Torres, Executive Director, Bridgeport Neighborhood Trust

Anthony Townsend, Senior Research Fellow, Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, NYU Wagner

Brian Trelstad, Partner, Bridges Ventures

Veronica Vanterpool, Executive Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Christopher Ward, Executive Vice President, Dragados USA

Drew Warshaw, Senior Director for Renewable Development, NRG Energy

Sarah Williams, Director, Civic Data Design Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture + Planning

“We are proud to welcome such an accomplished group of individuals to help guide this once-in-a-generation effort to plan for the future of our region,” said Elliot G. Sander, chairman of Regional Plan Association. ​“Their experience as civic, community and business leaders will be a tremendous asset as we address challenges facing our region, from declining economic opportunity to the threat of climate change to inefficient and debt-laden government institutions.”

The development of a new regional plan is rooted in the belief that while the metropolitan region has made great strides in the last two decades, both longstanding and new challenges threaten to derail our success. The progress of the last 25 years hasn’t been shared by everyone. Greater population density and the reality of climate change have made us more vulnerable to natural disasters than ever before. Above all else, we see evidence that our governing institutions are failing to make the hard choices necessary to address our most difficult problems. These challenges threaten to squander our region’s advantages and leave people worse off a generation from now than they are today.

Regional Plan Association has had a major role in shaping public policy since it was established in the 1920s to survey, analyze and plan the future growth of the metropolitan region. Beginning with the groundbreaking regional plan of 1929, which was the first initiative to recognize a metropolitan region that included New Jersey and Connecticut, RPA has developed long-range strategies for the region about once every generation.

RPA will present the results of our initial research and public-engagement effort for the Fourth Regional Plan at our annual conference, the Assembly, on April 25 in New York City. Over the next two years, under the guidance of the Committee on the Fourth Regional Plan, we will be expanding our research and developing policy recommendations. A vital part of this process will involve gathering input from government, business, and civic and community organizations throughout the tri-state area.

For more information about the Fourth Regional Plan, please visit www.rpa.org/fourth-plan. For additional information, please contact Wendy Pollack at [email protected].

Regional Plan Association is America’s oldest and most distinguished independent urban research and advocacy organization. RPA works to improve the economic competitiveness, infrastructure, sustainability and quality of life of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region. A cornerstone of our work is the development of long-range plans and policies to guide the growth of the region. Through our America 2050 program, RPA also provides leadership in the Northeast and across the U.S. on a broad range of transportation and economic-development issues. For more information, please visit www.rpa.org.