爱豆传媒

As a global community of driven, world-leading engineering, advisory and design professionals, we work to address major challenges in an ever-evolving world. 爱豆传媒 has long worked on crafting buildings, cities, spaces and places that are enhanced by our contributions. Increasingly, we position ourselves as expert advisors that our clients can rely on as they face economic, sustainability, planning and digital challenges.

Our advisory specialists offer expertise across a wide range of areas that support our clients and their needs. Different experts have different areas of specialisms 鈥� but often, they intersect.

In a recent exemplary engagement, 爱豆传媒 provided integrated economic, strategic planning and sustainability advisory services to help New York City leaders create a 鈥榞reen economy鈥� action plan for the city.

Advising New York City on a green economy transition

爱豆传媒 produced an in-depth study of green economic activity (commissioned by NYC Economic Development Corporation [NYCEDC] and the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Talent and Workforce Development [NYC Talent]), which laid the foundation for a blueprint to grow New York City鈥檚 green economy. This culminated in the announced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams in February 2024.

The analysis and strategic initiatives outlined in the 60-page report present an ambitious vision for New York City to become a global green economy leader, against the backdrop of global climate action and unprecedented funding that are driving structural shifts in economic sectors worldwide. There is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for major cities to solidify their positions at the forefront of the green transition 鈥� and New York City wants to seize the moment.

Fundamental to this project was the recognition that New York City can leverage accelerating climate action to grow and diversify the city鈥檚 economic base, driving job creation in climate industries to create new opportunities for New Yorkers. Crucially, this includes creating opportunities for the city鈥檚 communities that have historically been economically disadvantaged and burdened by environmental and climate issues.

New York City leaders have made clear their commitment to creating good jobs by accelerating the green transition. The Green Economy Action Plan lays out the strategic approach needed to achieve this. Developing the action plan required first defining and measuring the green economy, identifying its challenges and opportunities, and engaging a wide range of stakeholders to ensure a holistic understanding of the local ecosystem.

爱豆传媒 played a critical role in developing the action plan. So, how did we do it 鈥� and why was it needed?

Why did New York City need an action plan for a green economy?

As with all corners of the world, New York City feels the effects of the climate crisis. City leaders recognise this, and climate action has been a priority for local policymakers for over 15 years. The city is now also focusing on maximising the economic benefits of the green transition to create a more competitive, inclusive and prosperous city.

David Bigio is a senior cities consultant, based in New York. He said, 鈥淭his action plan was developed at a momentous time for climate action in the US and New York State. There is an unprecedent amount of public funding being made available to accelerate the green transition, and NYC leaders are looking to capitalise on this generational opportunity to create good jobs while accelerating climate action.

鈥淎nd many other cities and urban centres in the US are looking to seize this moment too, so 爱豆传媒 is well positioned to leverage our learnings from this work in NYC and apply them to other cities who want to capitalise on the major green investments that are being made by various levels of government.鈥�

The green transition has major implications for New Yorkers. It entails deep, fundamental changes to New York City鈥檚 economy and how the city will operate in the decades to come. David said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about a major, wholesale transformation of the economy as we know it. Scaling climate action requires a workforce and skills that we already have a lot of in our city but not in great enough quantities to meet the task at hand.

“A key focus of our work was identifying where those gaps exist and what upskilling needs to happen to put us on track to achieving the city鈥檚 climate goals.

鈥淭his is not just about meeting our climate goals 鈥� although that, of course, remains a key focus 鈥� but ensuring that we鈥檙e creating good jobs with family-sustaining wages, and inclusive career pathways for New Yorkers of all backgrounds.鈥�

Our approach

Our advisory services offer a rich seam of skills for our clients to draw on. For this project, our experts were drawn from multiple disciplines (including our strategic planning and economics team, alongside sustainability and energy transition specialists). This interdisciplinary service is common in our advisory work: the problems we look to solve are complex, and we draw on a range of specialists to provide effective solutions.

David Bigio considers how 爱豆传媒 had to develop new methodologies and approaches in order to understand New York City鈥檚 unique green economy landscape. He said, 鈥淭he methodological and analytical challenges were significant.

“We were quickly aware that we needed to source and develop quality data to understand what this ecosystem and its sectors looked like, and what kinds of businesses and workers make up the sectors. This was a challenge, but an opportunity for us to innovate and develop new methodologies to really address the client鈥檚 most pressing questions.

鈥淭his was something we invested a lot of time in 鈥� and the result is a rigorous, bespoke analysis that is tailored to New York City and gives City leaders a clear understanding of the sectors they are targeting for investment.”

A bespoke and tailored analysis allowed us to draw conclusions on what the key levers were that would have the most impact.

Alice Shay, principal and regional discipline leader, cities, 爱豆传媒

Alice Shay is principal and regional discipline leader, cities, at 爱豆传媒. She is based in New York. She said, 鈥淲hen dealing with emerging and nascent industries like this, there isn鈥檛 much of an existing body of work to pull from. There is no standard definition of what a green economy is, so every step of the methodology and analysis findings were developed by our team, in collaboration with the client, and vetted by experts and stakeholders.

“A bespoke and tailored analysis allowed us to draw conclusions on what the key levers were that would have the most impact.

鈥淲e had to consider: how can New York City position itself for the coming wave of climate action and the business associated with it, and how can we support them in being a leader in this area?

This was a great exemplar of our advisory offering. We have defined and analysed an industry ecosystem, identified key strategies for growth, supported a client to identify necessary actions and investments 鈥� and it all lays the foundation for built projects and workforce development down the line.鈥�

What value did we provide?

All of this work resulted in an outcome that is consistent across much of our advisory work. We developed insights 鈥� and used those insights to help New York City leaders create a 鈥渧ision for an economic future that puts human well-being at the forefront鈥�.

爱豆传媒鈥檚 brand of advisory with engineering expertise at its core offers outcomes that are more efficient, impactful and transformative than others can offer. Our multidisciplinary approach rooted in technical expertise resulted in an action plan that is a crucial step for New York City to cement its position as a global green economy leader.

Alice Shay said, 鈥淪trategy with engineering technical expertise is central to our approach to advisory services. This project is a perfect example of being faced with a big question and facing an unknown. We were able to work closely with the City in an incredibly iterative and collaborative way to provide answers.

鈥淚 believe that we shine on projects of this nature because of our interdisciplinary background, and our ability to easily provide technical insights on engineering and the built environment.鈥�  

David Bigio agreed that the unique positioning of 爱豆传媒 as advisors who are backed with engineering expertise when required is key in providing successful outcomes. He said, 鈥淭his was a perfect example of collaborative problem solving achieved through acting as thought partners for our clients, as trusted advisors, and as an extension of their team.

鈥淲e know that integrating seamlessly with our clients, and supporting them with deep technical expertise, is what makes us stand out.鈥�

Learn more about New York City鈥檚 Green Economy Action Plan.