People Don't Want Density, Says Duany

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.

1 minute read

December 18, 2009, 1:00 PM PST

By Tim Halbur


"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."

Friday, December 18, 2009 in Builder Magazine

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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