The project proposes a new productive neighborhood on a 34 ha (83acre) site in Brooklyn, New York which sits between three desirable neighborhoods, and at a critical junction in networks, easily accessible from Manhattan, Brooklyn and the rest of New York City. Adjacency to the converted Navy Yard provides easy access to workspace for small businesses and new food related jobs. The York St subway stop (linking directly to downtown Manhattan) is located at the western end of the site within a 5 min walk to the center of the new neighborhood.

Initialization of the model for a real site required new inputs, including boundary conditions and connections to existing networks. Surrounding commercial areas were input as attractors, and network flows into and through the site informed how the internal network connect back out to the city at large.

The simulation was run with D=200ppl/ha (derived from neighborhoods in the area), but with several (F) Friendliness settings. Tissues were evaluated, checking for heterogeneity of density distribution, OSR’s comparable to reference tissues, and the ability of the pattern to produce viable large-scale (>1ha) commercial farms while maintaining a continuous urban fabric. D=200 | F=0.90 was selected and fed into the network builder.

Tissues generated with D=200ppl/ha and F=0.3, F=0.8, F=0.97.

Clusters were detected, continuous productive plots >1 ha were identified and wholesale nodes placed. Retail nodes were located throughout the dwelling clusters, based on (W) Maximum Walking Distance. From Wholesale nodes, distribution networks were built, testing several Detour Angles as inputs. 40deg was selected for its balance of low trip time and low overall network cost. Individual distribution trees were connected with an Overlap of 30% and external network links were connected to their nearest retail nodes creating a continuous urban fabric. With the network in place, built morphology was allowed to respond to the network paths forming the urban corridors and productive commons.

Wholesale and retail nodes are placed. Food distribution and social movement networks are generated.

The resulting neighborhood would be home to 6164 people, with 2380 dwellings and 18.57 hectares of productive area. A new market street and retail corridor connects N-S between adjoining neighborhoods DUMBO and Fort Greene. A Center for Urban Farming is proposed to anchor the neighborhood, acting as an attractor for visitors from the rest of the city and providing agricultural education and training to urbanites. Inhabitants would have a choice of either growing their own or purchasing food grown commercially within the neighborhood boundaries.

Generated neighborhood plan (left). Overview of neighborhood (right)showing cultural center, retail corridor  and wholesale farm shop.