As Director of Jersey City’s Department of Infrastructure, Barkha is prioritizing transportation, sustainability, public space, and community engagement through her work.
Transportation
Jersey City has become a leader on Transportation with the rapid implementation of award-winning projects and initiatives that prioritize the most sustainable modes of travel - walking, biking, and transit. Since 2016, the City has adopted a nationally-recognized Vision Zero policy, implemented a robust network of protected bikeways, greenways, and safe streets, expanded transit and microtransit systems, and advanced policies to improve mobility options for all of its residents and visitors.
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Sustainability
Following the adoption of an ambitious Climate Action Plan, Jersey City has incorporated sustainability efforts into the full range of the City’s public realm projects within its streets, parks, and buildings. In addition to planting hundreds of trees every year, incorporating streets with green infrastructure, and converting pavement into parks, Jersey City will soon complete upgrades at 28 municipal facilities. Upgrades include installation of solar panels, electrification of the City’s fleet of vehicles, and installation of one of the nation’s first microgrid systems.
Community
By using a tactical urbanism approach for public engagement, and centering the experience of marginalized populations in planning and design practices, Jersey City has set new standards for community engagement. Transportation projects prioritize the experience of the most vulnerable users of city streets. Public Space projects are designed within the cultural context of each neighborhood and used as a way to celebrate the diversity of the City. Sustainability projects incorporate native biodiversity and seek to advance environmental justice.
Public Space
94% of Jersey City residents live within a 10 minute walk to a park, but the amount of public space available to the residents in this rapidly growing city is insufficient. Jersey City’s innovative approach to creating much-needed public space has become a model for dense urban communities. The City has initiated pilot pedestrian plazas, pop-up parks, and parklets throughout its neighborhoods, many of which have evolved from these temporary installations to permanent capital investments. Each year, the City creates new, non-traditional parks and public spaces to support the health and wellbeing of its residents.
PROJECTS
Click on images below to learn more about each project. Photos courtesy of the City of Jersey City / Jennifer Brown
