People Don't Want Density, Says Duany

Posted by: Tim Halbur

18 December 2009 - 1:00pm

In an interview with Builder Magazine, Andrés Duany says that citizen participation in one of the biggest roadblocks to smart growth, because people don't understand the benefits yet.

"BUILDER: Proponents say that smart growth can't happen effectively without regional-scale planning because so much of it is about connectivity. How do you reconcile citizens' rights to have a say in their communities with the need for big-picture thinking and decision-making?

DUANY: There is a theory of subsidiarity that considers at what level a decision is properly made. Most of today's planning decisions--large and small--are made at the wrong level. Take transit. You do not ask the neighbor next to a 16-mile bikeway whether they want a bikeway in their back yard because they will say no. That's a decision that needs to be made at the regional level."

Full Story: Andres Duany on Smart Growth

Source: Builder Magazine, December 18, 2009

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People Don't Want Density

Submitted by John Stillich on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 08:51.

The title is misleading. SOME people don't want density. Many of these people are also concerned about the loss of farmland and natural areas as new subdivisions spring up every year. The solution is clealy that all new urban expansion should be on as little land as possible, at densities that are relatively high. Also, for new communities (urban expansion) the NIMBYs need to be told that they are not being asked to give up their neighbourhoods, nor are they likely to be negatively affected.