Reassessing New Urbanism

A thematic issue of the peer reviewed journal Urban Planning provides a framework for reassessing New Urbanism.

2 minute read

December 29, 2020, 6:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Seaside Entrance

M.Fitzsimmons / Wikimedia Commons

The Urban Planning journal recently published an entire, thematic issue devoted to evaluating the project and results of New Urbanism. The entire issue is now available for open access. The full issue includes the following articles:

  • "New Urbanism: From Exception to Norm—The Evolution of a Global Movement," by Susan Moore and Dan Trudeau
  • "Does New Urbanism 'Just Show Up'? Deliberate Process and the Evolving Plan for Markham Centre," by Katherine Perrott
  • "New Urbanism and Contextual Relativity: Insights from Sweden," by Crystal Filep and Michelle Thompson-Fawcett
  • "New Urbanism as Urban Political Development: Racial Geographies of ‘Intercurrence’ across Greater Seattle," by Yonn Dierwechter
  • "Disparate Projects, Coherent Practices: Constructing New Urbanism through the Charter Awards," by Dan Trudeau
  • "New Urbanism in the New Urban Agenda: Threads of an Unfinished Reformation," by Michael W. Mehaffy and Tigran Haas
  • "New Urbanism: Past, Present, and Future," by Ajay Garde
  • "The Creeping Conformity—and Potential Risks—of Contemporary Urbanism," by Jill L. Grant

According to the introduction to the issue's theme by Susan Moore and Dan Trudeau, the collection "proposes an examination of New Urbanism as heterogeneous in practice, shaped through multiple contingent factors that spell variegated translations of core principles."

"The contributing authors investigate how variegated forms of New Urbanism emerge, interrogate why place-based contingencies lead to differentiation in practice, and explain why the movement continues to be represented as a universal phenomenon despite such on-the-ground complexities," according to Moore and Trudeau.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020 in Urban Planning

portrait of professional woman

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. Mary G., Urban Planner

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.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 11, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Metrorail train pulling into newly opened subterranean station in Washington, D.C. with crowd on platform taking photos.

Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename DC Metro “Trump Train”

The Make Autorail Great Again Act would withhold federal funding to the system until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), rebrands as the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA).

June 2, 2025 - The Hill

Large crowd on street in San Francisco, California during Oktoberfest festival.

The Simple Legislative Tool Transforming Vacant Downtowns

In California, Michigan and Georgia, an easy win is bringing dollars — and delight — back to city centers.

June 2, 2025 - Robbie Silver

Color-coded map of labor & delivery departments and losses in United States.

The States Losing Rural Delivery Rooms at an Alarming Pace

In some states, as few as 9% of rural hospitals still deliver babies. As a result, rising pre-term births, no adequate pre-term care and harrowing close calls are a growing reality.

4 hours ago - Maine Morning Star

Street scene in Kathmandu, Nepal with yellow minibuses and other traffic.

The Small South Asian Republic Going all in on EVs

Thanks to one simple policy change less than five years ago, 65% of new cars in this Himalayan country are now electric.

6 hours ago - Fast Company

Bike lane in Washington D.C. protected by low concrete barriers.

DC Backpedals on Bike Lane Protection, Swaps Barriers for Paint

Citing aesthetic concerns, the city is removing the concrete barriers and flexposts that once separated Arizona Avenue cyclists from motor vehicles.

June 15 - The Washington Post