John Shapiro

John Shapiro is a full-time professor and the former Chair of Pratt’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment. Before, he was for 25 years a principal of Phillips Price Shapiro Associates, Inc., one of the region’s leading planning consultancies. John teaches across disciplines, including multi-program studios, thesis in both the planning and placemaking programs, the economics of placemaking,  downtown/”Main Street” (re)vitalization, adaptive reuse of historic structures, zoning and preservation, and implementation tools (regulations, financing, etc.). A former geographer, John’s current research focuses on climate change’s impact on land use, infrastructure, and community “climigration.” John has contributed to books on participatory planning, preserving urban industry, and the future of zoning. During his three decades as a consultant, John worked on virtually every type of plan, from site-specific to regional and from rural to metropolitan. Since joining Pratt, John has consulted on the desegregation of suburban NY and high-stakes mediation of complex NYC urban redevelopment and policy. John is the former president of the Metro NY chapter of the American Planning Association; he remains active in civic affairs, including the Regional Plan Association and the Municipal Art Society of NY. He and his work have won over 20 awards, including the national American Planning Association’s first Presidential Award.

BA, Geography, Clark University, phi beta kappa; MS, City and Regional Planning, Pratt Institute, Weinstein Award recipient.

• With Beth Bingham. “Zoning for Industry, Like You Mean It.” In The Design of Urban Manufacturing, edited by Nina Rappaport and Rob Lane. Routledge, 2020.
• “Strategic Planning for Community Transformation.” In An ICMA Green Book: Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice, edited by Gary Hack and others, 2000.
• “Zoning Do’s and Don’ts.” New York Main Street Newsletter, volume 6, no.3. New York Main Street Alliance, fall 1997.
• With Xavier Briggs and Anita Miller. “Planning for Community Building: CCRP in the South Bronx.” Planners Casebook. American Institute of Certified Planners, winter 1996.
• With Brian Kintish. “The Zoning of Today in the City of Tomorrow.” In Zoning New York City: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, edited by Tod Bressi. Rutgers University Press, 1993.
• With Brian Kintish. “Neighborhood and Historic Preservation.” CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, volume 15, no. 8. National Park Service, 1992.

In addition to several hundred expert planning reports while a consultant.