Is New Urbanism Social Engineering?

Criticism of planned communities as social engineering is unjustified, says UIUC professor Emily Talen.

1 minute read

September 4, 2002, 12:00 PM PDT

Emily Talen, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: "'Most assessments of the success or failure of New Urbanism to date have focused largely on its physical design features, Talen said. Past attempts to go beyond that and analyze its social goals have typically sold the concept short by tossing around those "unsubstantiated claims about New Urbanists' desire to engage in social engineering.' In an effort to debunk the myths and promote further discussion of the issues involved, Talen evaluated the links between New Urbanism's physical planning proposals and three types of social goals: community, social equity and the common good."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Criticism of planned communities as social engineering unjustified

Monday, September 2, 2002 in University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign

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