New Urbanism

In urbanism and planning, the term transect provides a conceptual framework for understanding how the scale of built environments can vary from place to place.

August 18, 2022 - James Brasuell

Despite the less-than-magical results of its experiment in Celebration, Florida, Disney has announced plans to build a chain of master-planned communities around the country.

February 17, 2022 - The Verge

Compact, walkable urban villages support sustainable economic development by reducing transportation costs, leaving residents with more money to spend on local goods, and by creating more efficient and attractive commercial districts.

January 25, 2022 - Todd Litman

While The Death and Life of Great American Cities remains an urban planning classic, today's planners must contend with challenges that Jacobs couldn't have anticipated.

August 12, 2021 - The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Author Jeff Speck discusses the progress made since he first wrote Walkable City–and how far we still have to go to build streets that are safe for all.

August 9, 2021 - Governing

New research sheds light on how the brain responds to urban environments and architecture.

June 18, 2021 - American Society Of Landscape Architects

The iconic urban thinker has influenced generations of planners, but how do her ideas hold up in an age of massive upheaval and economic inequality?

March 14, 2021 - Urban Omnibus

What does it mean to be a 15-minute city?

February 14, 2021 - CNU Public Square

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

December 29, 2020 - Urban Planning

New Urbanism is one of the most influential planning and urban design reform movements of recent decades.

November 30, 2020 - James Brasuell

Some parts of The Villages, Florida, the nation's largest retirement community and one of its most popular master planned communities, bear a striking resemblance to the neotraditional development favored by famous early examples of New Urbanism.

July 20, 2020 - James Brasuell

Can't tell New Urbanism from YIMBY? This post tries to help.

December 3, 2019 - Greater Greater Washington

New Urbanism was in part born of the criticisms of 20th century planning principles popularized by Jane Jacobs, but Jacobs infamously derided the new school of thought.

May 31, 2019 - Fanis Grammenos

The Charter of the New Urbanism favors infill development, yet new urbanists sometimes oppose infill, especially in historic urban areas. This post speculates on why that might be the case.

November 11, 2018 - Michael Lewyn

Charles Wolfe calls attention to similarities between contemporary urbanism and yesterday's debunked utopias. The two may differ in substance, but both tend toward a certain level of dogma that isn't necessarily helpful on the ground.

October 30, 2018 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

The Congress for New Urbanism's Users' "Guide to Code Reform" leads planners through the code reform process, providing tools for governments lacking the capacity to develop a full form-based code.

October 2, 2018 - Public Square: A CNU Journal

After decades of planning, the city hopes several huge developments will draw millenials and empty-nesters.

June 25, 2018 - Curbed

The planning values and principles of New Urbanism are deeply rooted in human history. What does this look like, and what can we learn from it? The archaeology of an ancient Mayan city sheds some light.

June 19, 2018 - Dean Saitta

Many of the Best Picture nominees are set in cities, and none are focused on suburbia.

February 15, 2018 - Michael Lewyn

Robert Steuteville reviews Cities Alive, by Michael Mehaffy, describing the newly released book as "an important analysis for urbanism."

November 21, 2017 - Public Square: A CNU Journal