053: Shin-pei Tsay: Improving the Public Realm through Policy, Design, and Governance

On today’s episode of Architectette we welcome Shin-pei Tsay.

Shin-pei’s experience converges on policy, design, and governance to shape inclusive, sustainable, people-centered cities. Throughout her career, she has spearheaded innovative approaches to systemic challenges across numerous urban issues, often with a focus on the public realm and transportation. Shin-pei currently leads the Mayor's Office for New Urban Mechanics in Boston, and was most recently director of global policy for cities and sustainability at Uber. She has also held leadership roles at Gehl Institute, Transit Center, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served on the boards of SPUR and Transportation Alternatives. 

We talk about:

- The development of Shin-pei’s career in urban policy, planning, and transportation innovation and how her career evolved from working for advocacy groups, think tanks, tech companies, to now- city government.

- Shin-pei shares her origin story including her hometown and how it framed her perspective of urban life in terms of community, mobility, and access. 

- We define the “Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics” and Shin-pei explains how her teams are working to redefine Boston’s future by testing small scale urban interventions which then inform long-term solutions using examples like the very first 311 program or cooling towers during a recent heat wave.

- We talk about urban changes in the past few years, using examples of failures of urban policy as well as successful interventions both in the US and abroad. 

- We dive into Shin-pei’s unique role at Uber and discuss her global impacts on positioning, sustainability, and accessibility. You’ll be inspired to get more involved to help shape public policy and urban environments.

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Links: 

Department of New Urban Mechanics:https://www.boston.gov/departments/new-urban-mechanics

Connect with Shin-pei:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shin-pei-tsay-48b777/

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