Planetizen Newswire
Keep up with essential planning news and commentary, delivered to your inbox every Monday and Thursday.
The Orthodoxy of Urbanism
Planners take a prescriptive approach to urbanism, while people have their own ideas about what makes good places that don't fit the standard orthodoxy. Drew Austin says both extremes need attention, and synthesis.
Austin compares the two approaches to theories of language, Prescriptivism and Descriptivism:
"Prescriptivists are those who believe in objective, fixed rules to guide the usage of language; Descriptivists, on the other hand, seek to define a language by how people actually use it."
Planners have a tendency to develop a prescriptivist set of beliefs and approaches:
"Density, mixed-use development, and transit become components of an urbanist orthodoxy; a freeway through a vibrant neighborhood troubles the urban Prescriptivist in the same way an 'ain't' irks the English teacher."
Published on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 in
Topics
- U.S. Cities Where Homeowners Stay Put the Longest
- Prop 13 on the Ballot in California—Just Not the Prop 13 Everyone's Worried About
- Analysis: Parking Won't Save Struggling Commercial Corridors
- A New Mixed-Use Superblock for Portland
- Video: Urban Planning Trends to Watch in 2020
- The State of Public Meetings
- A New Planning Director in San Francisco
- Vision Zero, Meet VMT Reductions
- Recent Studies Dig Into the Affordability Effects of Housing Developments
- Miami Has the Most to Lose From Climate Change, Study Says
- Zuckerberg and Company Set Goals on Housing Policy and Affordable Housing
- The 14th Street Busway Saves Lives
- Opinion: Improved Commuter Rail Services Would Better Serve Chicago’s South Side Residents
- Charting the Climate Change Crisis
- Transit-Friendly Makeover for Downtown Seattle Street
- Opinion: Climate Change Has Brought the 'Era of Extreme' to the Great Lakes
- The Leaning Tower of Dallas Is Too Good for This World
- Waterfront Toronto Greenlights Most of Sidewalk Labs' Quayside Master Plan
- Airbnb, Denver Struggle to Find Common Ground
- Refugees Learn to Survive as Pedestrians on Houston's Dangerous Streets
