In the future New York will continue to see a population increase as the current trend toward urbanization continues. This will result in further building development within New York. As population density increases so to will the built environment. This need will effectively eliminate the vacant and underutilized areas within the city. It will thereby improve the aesthetics of the city, as each lot will be valued as an important piece of the city as a whole. This will improve the maintenance of each individual lot as well as the shared resources between these lots. This type of micro concern will also spread into a macro concern for the neighborhood which will pressure government and private developers to take immediate action on addressing and coming to conclusion on local community needs as well as the immediate implementation of these needs. Projects like the World Trade Center rebuilding or Greenpoint waterfront redevelopment projects will not reach a point of standstill over economic or political factors as the population will demand resolution of these projects in a timely manner so their community aims are resolved, and also to help alleviate congestion within the city.
The need for space primarily in Manhattan as well as the outer boroughs will result in more high-rise development. Manhattan will have taller buildings in all areas of the island creating a skyline across the island that is similar to the skyline of today in Midtown. This congestion will create a strong demand for open space. The majority of open space will be planted parks rather than open plazas. This development can be attributed to the need to utilize all the available buildable space for inhabitation. Furthermore, the natural parks will also provide absorption of rainwater and help alleviate the strain on the wastewater system and reduce the heat island effect.
Transportation will be divided into layers in order to accommodate the extreme population which will inhabit the city. Skyways will become more commonplace in order to relieve sidewalks of congestion and enable their management. There will be several layers of traffic and mass transportation beyond that which currently exists. This will serve to raise the current street level and have multiple levels for transportation. The transportation network will also have different sectors devoted to local or express transportation. Transportation will also be more environmentally friendly and will offer intelligent solutions to transportation problems. One such solution would be using smaller cars to enable greater numbers of travelers to use the roads as well as shared transportation to decrease the number of automobiles on the road and the number of automobiles manufactured.