Ensuring Equitable Through Innovative Neighborhood Development Plan and Implmentation Programs

City of Newark is one of the oldest Cities in the United States. Today it is the second largest city with in the New York metropolitan region, located approximately 13 KM (8miles) west of Manhattan. The city houses headquarters of several Fortune 500 companies such as Prudential, PSEG, Panasonic Corp. of North America, IDT Corporation and Audible.com (Amazon's Subsidiary Organization). Several Universities and Colleges are also located in the City of Newark, including Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology and Seton Hall University. In spite of all these anchor institutions in the city, like many Post-Industrial Cities, Newark also faces several socio-economic challenges, including poverty, jobs and high rate of urban vacancy.

In particular, West Ward area is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the City of Newark with, high poverty rate, over 16% vacant /abandoned properties, high crime rate, low employment rate and high foreclosure rate. Model Neighborhood Initiative was created to address several of these problems as well as transform the neighborhood into sustainable and vibrant urban area by reinvesting both in people and in place. This event will discuss some innovative and inclusionary strategies - 'for the locals & by the locals' approach, that City has taken to revitalize the neighborhoods and foster equitable development.

In this regard, we would love to hear comments and valuable inputs from the participants and hopefully their experiences in dealing with similar issues across the globe.