How much do you know about the New Urbanism movement?

Study Notes

New Urbanism is a movement that aims to create environmentally friendly, walkable neighbourhoods with a range of housing and job types. It was founded in the United States in the early 1980s and has influenced real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use strategies. The movement attempts to address the ills associated with urban sprawl and post-Second World War suburban development. It encompasses ten basic principles such as traditional neighborhood development and transit-oriented development, with the aim of building a sense of community and developing ecological practices. The organizing body for New Urbanism is the Congress for the New Urbanism, founded in 1993, with its foundational text being the Charter of the New Urbanism. The movement promotes regional planning for open space, context-appropriate architecture and planning, adequate provision of infrastructure, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. The movement hopes to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging the population to ride bikes, walk, or take the train, increase the supply of affordable housing and rein in suburban sprawl. New Urbanist developments are often accompanied by New Classical, postmodern, or vernacular styles. The CNU is the leading organization promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities, and healthier living conditions. The movement has been criticized both for being a social engineering scheme and for failing to address social equity and for both restricting private enterprise and for being a deregulatory force in support of private sector developers.New Urbanism: Principles, Examples, and Criticisms

New Urbanism is an urban planning movement that emphasizes walkability, mixed-use development, and traditional neighborhood design.
The movement emerged in the United States in the 1980s and has since spread globally.
The Charter of the New Urbanism outlines the movement's principles, which include promoting pedestrian and transit-friendly communities, mixed-use development, and compact, interconnected neighborhoods.
Critics argue that New Urbanism is too accommodating of motor vehicles and should instead prioritize walking, cycling, and public transport.
New Urbanism has been credited with promoting sustainable development and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but some critics argue that the scale of dwellings and building variety, rather than New Urbanism's principles, may be the determining factor in achieving low carbon outcomes.
The U.S. Green Building Council, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Congress for the New Urbanism developed a rating system, LEED-ND, to measure the sustainability of New Urbanist neighborhood design.
Sustainable Urbanism is a concept that combines New Urbanism and LEED-ND to promote walkable, transit-served urbanism with high-performance buildings and infrastructure.
New Urbanism has been criticized for being a form of centrally planned, large-scale development that ignores local conditions and the initiative of final users.
Examples of New Urbanist communities in the United States include Prospect New Town in Colorado, University Place in Memphis, Seaside in Florida, and Mueller Community in Texas.
New Urbanism has influenced planning initiatives across the United States, with at least 14 large-scale initiatives based on the movement's principles.
Old York Village in New Jersey and Civita in California are examples of sustainable, transit-oriented New Urbanist communities.
Del Mar Station in California and East Beach in Virginia are other examples of New Urbanist communities that have won awards for their design.New Urbanism around the World
New Urbanism is a popular planning and development concept that is closely related to the Urban village movement in Europe.
The movement began in the US and has since spread to other countries including Australia, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Many developments around the world follow New Urbanist principles to a greater or lesser extent.
In Europe, brown-field sites have been redeveloped since the 1980s following the models of the traditional city neighbourhoods rather than Modernist models.
Poundbury in England is one well-publicized example of a New Urbanist development. It was built on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall under the overview of Prince Charles.
The Council for European Urbanism (CEU), formed in 2003, shares many of the same aims as the U.S.'s New Urbanists.
An Australian organization, Australian Council for New Urbanism has since 2001 run conferences and events to promote New Urbanism in that country.
Most new developments on the edges of Australia's major cities are master planned, often guided expressly by the principles of New Urbanism.
The relationship between housing, activity centres, the transport network, and key social infrastructure is defined at structure planning stage.
Melbourne launched 20-minute neighborhoods in January 2018, aiming to provide most daily needs within a 20-minute walk from home, together with safe cycling and public transport options.
The concept has since expanded to other cities, such as Singapore and Hamilton in New Zealand.
Critics have pointed out that Melbourne's plan excludes jobs and that a previous target for public transport use has been shelved.

Description

Test your knowledge on the New Urbanism movement with this quiz! Learn about its history, principles, examples, and criticisms, both in the United States and around the world. Discover how this urban planning movement aims to create sustainable, walkable, and community-oriented neighborhoods. Challenge yourself and see how much you know about this influential movement that has shaped the way we build and live in our cities.