New urbanism: a new approach to the way american builds

Abstract

This article provides an overview of new urbanism, a new influential movement in planning and architecture in the United States that is making a visible impact on the way american towns and cities are built. New urbanism challenges the current development practices in the US which have contributed to urban sprawl, inner city decay, degradation of natural resources, and loss of community identity. It advocates a return to the timeless goals of traditional urbanism and offers a complex set of design principles and public policies to guide development at all scales of the built environment: from the small scale (building, block, street) through the intermediate scale (neighborhood, corridor, district) to the large scale (region, city and town). The article discusses some of the lessons learned from this movement in the last decade, showing why it has gained wide support among professionals, developers, politicians and the general public, and why its principles have been adopted for planning and development of new settlements and redevelopment of existing urban areas.