Abstract
In 1996 the New Urbanism Charter was developed by Americans who advocated a new approach to urban planning, outlining a series of principles at various scales to address contemporary problems. Since many ideas from older cities were used for new community designs, the approach is often described as Neo-Traditional in character, although design issues are only part of the principles identified. The ideas subsequently led to the development of related concepts, such as Smart Growth, Urban Villages and Transit Orientated Development. A review of the basic features of these various types of New Urbanism is followed by a critique of the concepts and their utility. Although the Charter has provided a useful summary of needed changes, not all have been given adequate attention, and many other problems of contemporary cities are not dealt with. In addition, few New Urbanists tackled the problems of creating effective governances in the fragmented political jurisdictions around central cities. New Regionalism ideas have partially filled this gap but most just cobble together existing jurisdictions in a variety of political forms to provide overview plans and sometimes services for a city region, often with limited effectiveness.
New urbanists have developed and propagated a formula for planning the good community, and have gained international attention in the process. Beauty is arguably a necessary condition for the good community, but is it sufficient?
(Grant 2006, Introduction)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aldous, T. (Ed.). (1992). Urban Villages: A concept for creating mixed-use urban developments on a sustainable scale. London: Urban Village Group.
Alexander, C. (1979). The timeless way of building. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Silverstein, M., & Ishikawa, S. (1977). A pattern language: Towns, buildings, construction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Al-Hindi, K. F. (2001). The new urbanism: Where and for whom? Investigation of an emergent paradigm. Urban Geography, 22(3), 202–219.
Anderson, K. (20 May 1991). Oldfangled new towns. Time, 52.
Audirac, I., & Shermyen, A. (1994). An evaluation of neo-traditional designs social prescription: Postmodern placebo or remedy for suburban malaise? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 13, 161–173.
Axhausen, K. W. (2000). Geographies of somewhere: A review of urban literature. Urban Studies, 37(10), 1849–1864.
Baldassare, M. (1986). Trouble in paradise: The suburban transformation in America. New York: Columbia University Press.
Banai, R. (1996). A theoretical assessment of the neo-traditional settlement form by dimensions of performance. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 23, 177–190.
Banai, R. (1998). The new urbanism: An assessment of the core commercial areas, with perspectives from (retail) location and land-use theories, and the conventional wisdom. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 25(2), 169–185.
Bartling, H. (2004). The magic kingdom syndrome: Trials and tribulations of life in Disney’s Celebration. Contemporary Justice Review, 7(4), 375–3 93.
Basten, L. (2011). Stuttgart: A metropolitan city-region in the making? International Planning Studies, 16(3), 273–287.
Baxandall, R., & Ewen, E. (2000). How the suburbs happened. New York: Basic Books.
Bookout, L. (1992). Neo-traditional town planning: A new vision for the suburbs? Urban Land. January 1992, pp. 20–26.
Bressi, T. (1994). Planning the American dream. In P. Katz (Ed.), The new urbanism: Toward an architecture of community (pp. xxv–xlii). New York: McGraw-Hill
Brindley, T. (2003). The social dimension of the urban village: A comparison of models for sustainable urban development. Urban Design International, 8, 53–65.
Brooke, S. (1995). Seaside. Gretna, LO: Pelican.
Brown, B., & Cropper, V. (2001). New urban and standard subdivisions: Evaluating psychological and social goals. Journal of the American Planning Association, 67(4), 402–419.
Calthorpe, P. (1993). The next American metropolis: Ecology, community and the American dream. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Calthorpe, P. (1994). The region. In P. Katz (Ed.), The new urbanism: Toward an architecture of community (pp. xi–xx). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Calthorpe, P. (2001). The regional city: Planning for the end of sprawl. New York: New Island Press.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). (n.d.). Residential intensification case studies, built projects: Garrison Woods. http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/su/sucopl/upload/Garrison-Woods-Calgary-Alberta.pdf. Accessed 6 Dec 2014.
Carma. (n.d.). A towne to call home: McKenzie Towne (24 page sales brochure).
Congress for the New Urbanism. (1999). Charter of the new urbanism: Region/neighbourhood, district, and corridor/Block, street, and building. New York: McGraw-Hill Books.
Coroux, D., Keough, N., Miller, B. & Row, J. (2006). Overcoming barriers to sustainable urban development: Toward smart growth in Calgary. A Discussion Paper Prepared for the Calgary Citizens’ Forum.
Cotugno, A., & Seltzer, E. (2011). Towards a metropolitan consciousness in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. International Planning Studies, 16(3), 289–304.
Crane, R. (1996). On form versus function: Will the new urbanism reduce traffic, or increase it? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 15, 117–126.
Davies, W. K. D. (1984). Factorial ecology. Aldershot: Gower.
Davies, W. K. D. (1992). Affective dimensions of community character. Unpublished paper read at IGU Commission on Urban Systems and Development, Detroit. Subsequently extended and published in W. K. D. Davies (1995). The power of communities. Acta Wasaensis (Finland), 45(6), 49–74.
Davies, W. K. D., & Herbert, D. T. (1993). Communities within cities: An urban social geography. London/New York: Belhaven Press/Halstead-Wiley.
DeCoursey, W., & Athey, L. (2007). Transit-oriented design: Illustration of TOD characteristics. Institute for Public Administration, College of Human Services, Education & Public Policy University of Delaware.
Department of Environment Transportation and Regions (1999). Millenium villages and sustainable communities. London: DETR.
Dowling, R. (1998). Neo-traditionalism in the suburban landscape: cultural geographies of exclusion in Vancouver, Canada. Urban Geography, 19(2), 105–122
Duany, A., & Plater-Zyberk, E. (1992). The second coming of the American small town. Wilson Quarterly, 19–50.
Ellis, C. (2002). The new urbanism: Critiques and rebuttals. Journal of Urban Design, 7(3), 261–291.
Fader, S. (2000). Density by design. Urban Land, 59(7), 55–59.
Foglesong, R. E. (1986). Planning the capitalist city: The colonial era to the 1920s. New York: Princeton University Press.
Ford, L. R. (1999). Lynch revisited. New urbanism and theories of good city form. Cities, 16(4), 247–257.
Franklin, B., & Tait, M. (2002). Constructing an image: The urban village concept in the U.K. Planning Theory, 1(3), 250–272.
Frantz, D., & Collins, C. (1999). Celebration, U.S.A.: Living in Disney’s brave new world. New York: Henry Holt.
Fulton, W. (1996). The new urbanism: Hope or hype for American communities. Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Garreau, J. (1991). Edge city: Life on the new frontier. New York: Anchor Books, Doubleday.
Geddes, P. (1915). Cities in evolution: An introduction to the town planning movement and to the study of civics. London: Williams.
Gehl, J. (2010). Cities are for People. Washington D.C.: Island Press.
Geller, A. L. (2003). Smart growth: A prescription for liveable cities. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1410–1415.
Gibson, K., & Abbott, C. (2002). Portland, Oregon. Cities, 19, 425–436.
Grant, J. (2006). Planning the good community: New urbanism in theory and practice. London: Routledge.
Gyourko, J., & Rybczynski, W. (2000). Financing new urbanism projects: Obstacles and solutions. Housing Policy Debate, 11(3), 733–750.
Haas, T. (2008). New urbanism and beyond. New York: Rizzoli.
Hall, P. (1988). Cities of tomorrow. London: Blackwell.
Hall, D. (1998). Community in the new urbanism: Design vision and symbolic crusades. Traditional Dwellings and Settlement Review, 9(11), 23–36.
Hall, P. (2000). Urban renaissance/new urbanism: Two sides of the same coin? Journal of the American Planning Association, 66(4), 359–360.
Halligan, D. (2000). Maryland’s smart growth and neighborhood conservation initiative. Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal, 70, 36.
Harvey, D. (1994). Flexible accumulation through urbanization: reflections on ‘Post-Modernism’ in the American City. In A. Amin (Ed.), Post-Fordism: A Reader (pp. 361–386). Oxford: Blackwell.
Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Howard, E. (1898). Garden cities of tomorrow (Introduction by Lewis Mumford). Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1965. (Originally published as Tomorrow: A peaceful path to real reform, 1898).
H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. (1989). A vision of Britain. New York: Doubleday.
Hughes, S. (2000). Copperopolis: Landscapes of the early industrial period in Swansea. Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in Wales, Cardiff.
Hutton, T. A. (2011). Re-thinking metropolis: From the ‘liveable region’ to the ‘sustainable metropolis’ in Vancouver. International Planning Studies, 16(3), 237–255.
Jacobs, J. (1961). The death and life of great American cities. New York: Random House.
Janssen-Jansen, L. B. (2011). From Amsterdam to Amsterdam metropolitan area: A paradigm shift. International Planning Studies, 16(3), 237–255.
Janssen-Jansen, L.B. & Hutton, T.A. (2011a). Re-thinking the metropolis. International Planning Studies, 16(3), 201–215.
Janssen-Jansen, L. B., & Hutton, T. A. (2011b). Reconfiguring the governance structures of the twenty-first century city-region: Observations and conclusions. International Planning Studies, 16(3), 305–312.
Jones, K., & Simmons, J. (1987). Location, location, location: Analyzing the retail environment. New York: Methuen.
Katz, P. (1994). The new urbanism: Toward an architecture of community. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kelbaugh, D. (1989). The pedestrian pocket book: A new urban design strategy. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Khattak, A. J., & Rodriguez, D. (2005). Travel behaviour in neo-traditional neighbourhood developments: A case study in U.S.A. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 39(6), 481–500.
Kim, J. A., & Kaplan, R. (2004). Physical and psychological factors in sense of community: New urbanist Kentlands and nearby Orchard Village. Environment and Behaviour, 36(3), 313–340.
Knapp, G., & Talen, E. (2005). New urbanism and smart growth: A few words from the academy. International Regional Science Review, 28(2), 107–118.
Knox, P. (1992). The packaged landscapes of post-suburban America. In P. J. Larkham & J. W. R. Whitehand (Eds.), Urban Landscapes: International Perspectives (9th ed., pp. 207–233). London: Routledge.
Krieger, A. (Ed.). (1991). Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk: Towns and town-making principles. New York: Rizzoli.
Krier, L. (1991). Afterword. In A. Krieger (Ed.), Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk: Towns and town-making principles (pp. 117–119). New York: Rizzoli.
Krier, L. (1998). Architecture: Choice or fate. Great Britain: Andraes Papadakis Publisher.
Kroen, A., & Goodman, R. (2012). Implementing metropolitan strategies: Lessons from Melbourne. International Planning Studies, 17(3), 303–321.
Kunstler, J. H. (1993). The geography of nowhere: The rise and decline of America’s man-made landscape. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Langdon, P. (1994). A better place to live: Reshaping the American suburbs. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press
Lennertz, W. (1991). Town-making fundamentals. In A. Krieger (Ed.), Towns and town-making principles (pp. 21–24). New York: Rizzoli.
Lovering, J. (1999). Theory led by policy: The inadequacies of the new regionalism. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 23(2), 379–395.
Lund, H. (2003). Testing the claims of new urbanism: Local access, pedestrian travel, and neighbouring behaviour. Journal of the American Planning Association, 69(4), 414–429.
Markusen, A. (1999). Fuzzy concepts, scanty evidence, policy distance: The case for rigour and policy relevance in critical regional studies. Regional Studies, 33(9), 575–605.
McCann, E. J. (1995). Neo-traditional developments: The anatomy of a new urban form. Urban Geography, 16, 210–233.
McKenzie, E. (1994). Privatopia: Homeowner associations and the rise of residential private government. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Mohney, D., & Easterling, K. (Eds.) (1991). Seaside: Making a town in America. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Mumford, L. (1922). The story of utopia. New York: Boni and Liveright.
Mumford, L. (1938). The culture of cities. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Mumford, L. (1939). Regional planning in the north-west. Portland City Club Bulletin, 18(July), 1–20.
Mumford, L. (1961). The city in history. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Murrain, P. (1996). Congress for the new urbanism charter: Developing an agenda for action. Urban Design International, 1(2), 183–187.
Nasar, J. (2003). Does neotraditional development build community? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 23(1), 58–68.
Perry, C. (1929). The neighbourhood unit. Monograph 1, Neighborhood and Community Planning, Regional Survey of New York and Environs (Vol. VII). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Pogharian, S. (1996). Street design: Learning from suburbia. Plan Canada, 36(5), 41–42.
Putnam, R. (2001). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rossi, U. (2004). New regionalism contested: Some remarks in light of the case of the Mezzogiorno of Italy. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 28(2), 466–4 76.
Sancton, A. (2001). Canadian cities and the new regionalism. Journal of Urban Affairs, 23(5), 543–555.
Schleimer, J. (1993). Buyers of homes in neo-traditional communities voice their opinions. Land Development, Spring-Summer, 4–6.
Scott, J. W. (2005). The new regionalism as a contingent governance paradigm: European and North American perspectives. In Y. Murayma & G. Du (Eds.), Cities in global perspective (pp. 452–461). Tokyo: College of Tourism, Rikkyo University and I.G.U. Urban Commission.
Scott, J. W. (2009). Decoding the new regionalism. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Scully, V. (1994). The Architecture of Community. In P. Katz (Ed.), The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of community (pp. 221–230). New York: McGraw-Hill.
SG: Smart Growth Network. (2013). http://www.smartgrowth.org. Accessed 15 Aug 2013.
Soderbaum, F., & Shaw, T. M. (2003). Theories of new regionalism. Basingstoke: Palgrave, Macmillan.
Song, Y. (2005). Smart growth and urban development pattern: A comparative study. International Regional Science Review, 28, 239–265.
Southworth, M. (1997). Walkable suburbs: an evaluation of neo-traditional communities at the urban edge. Annals American Planning Association, 63(1), 28–44.
Southworth, M. (2005). Designing the walkable city. Journal of Urban Planning Development, 131, 246–257.
Steiner, R. (1998). Traditional shopping centres. Access, 12, 8–13.
Stephenson, R. B. (1999). A vision of green: Lewis Mumford’s legacy in Portland, Oregon. Journal of the American Planning Association, 65(3), 259–269.
Suttles, G. (1972). The social construction of communities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Talen, E. (1999). Sense of community and neighbourhood form: An assessment of the social doctrine of new urbanism. Urban Studies, 36(8), 1361–1379
Talen, E. (2002). The social goals of new urbanism. Housing Policy Debate, 13(1), 165–188.
Telo, M. (Ed.). (2007). European Union and new regionalism. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Thompson-Fawcett, M. (1996). The urbanist revision of development. Urban Design International, 1(4), 301–322.
Till, K. (1993). Neo-traditional towns and urban villages: The cultural production of a geography of otherness. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 11, 709–732.
Townshend, I. J. (2002). Monitoring community dimensions: City-wide characteristics and differentiation by social region. In W. K. D. Davies & I. J. Townshend (Eds.), Monitoring cities: International perspectives (pp. 435–459). Calgary: International Geographical Union and Urban Commission.
Townshend, I. J., & Davies, W. K. D. (1999). Identifying the elements of community character: A case study of community dimensionality in old age residential areas. Research in Community Sociology, 9, 219–251.
Tregoning, H., Agyeman, J., & Shenot, C. (2002). Sprawl, smart growth and sustainability. Local Environment, 7, 341–347.
Unwin, R. (1969). Town planning in practice. New York: Ayer Company Publications (Reprint of 1934 edition).
Van der Ryn, S., & Calthorpe, P. (1986). Sustainable communities: A new design synthesis for cities, suburbs, and towns. San Francisco: Sierra Books Clubs.
Webster, C. (2002). Property rights and the public realm: Gates, green belts, and gemeinschaft. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 29(3), 397–412.
Wheeler, S. (2002). The new regionalism: Key characteristics of an emerging movement. Journal of the American Planning Association, 68(3), 267–278.
Ye, L., Mandpe, S., & Meyer, P. B. (2005). What is “smart growth?”-Really? Journal of Planning Literature, 19, 301–315.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Davies, W., Townshend, I. (2015). New Urbanisms: From Neo-Traditional Neighbourhoods to New Regionalism. In: Davies, W. (eds) Theme Cities: Solutions for Urban Problems. GeoJournal Library, vol 112. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9655-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9655-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9654-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9655-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)