The existing Diversity Plaza has failed due to a lack of connection between the plaza’s function and the local community. Given that the Plaza is located just beside the MTA 7’s Line (which is 20 minutes from Time Square), the border of Diversity Plaza should be expanded more into the urban fabric and further away from the urban space and not limited to one spot. Jackson Heights is a vibrant urban area of cultural and ethnic diversity that serves the plaza’s function and the local community. Given that the Plaza is located just beside the MTA 7’s Line (which is 20 minutes from Time Square), the border of Diversity Plaza should be expanded more into the urban fabric and further away from the urban space and not limited to one spot. Jackson Heights is a vibrant urban area with cultural and ethnic diversity. While diversity is to be celebrated, such dissimilarities can cause social conflict. Thus, finding a correct solution that could benefit all groups equally served as the inception of this project.

The solution to this is to find different spots that contain possibilities for inserting urban programs that fit the local community’s lifestyle. By connecting individual sites to a site belt, circulation becomes the priority. In terms of achieving a properly animated local yet conceptually stretched space, three representative actors were chosen to guide the project program selection. The shopper represents commercial functions, a seated person reflects kids and senior citizens, and an event person represents the good and freedom of speech for minority communities.

This site belt has the flexibility to also act as a platform for different groups of people to negotiate and keep changing and moving around their places, which in turn allows the action of “distribution of goods” to have a peaceful environment. For all urban functions and programs, green spaces are not limited to one space; instead, they are fitted into a square puzzle on site, which can be easily moved around and shaped according to the result of negotiation.

As North American cities become more multicultural, especially in cities like New York, building urban spaces democratically is an ever-challenging topic; thus, providing a platform for such a process is a balanced solution.