A term coined in 1986 to describe a movement to reform patterns of urban growth. Basic tenets include: compact neighborhoods with diverse populations that are pedestrian friendly and have mixed uses transportation systems that efficiently serve regions a wide spectrum of housing types buildings and landscapes that define streets and public spaces as areas of shared use and urban places with architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, ecology, climate and building practices.
A planning and design movement that promotes artfully designed urban neighborhoods that host diverse income and ethnic groups, a mix of homes, stores, and restaurants, and useful public spaces.
A movement to promote cities and towns with planned growth that minimizes damage to the environment.
An approach to development and redevelopment promoted by many architects, planners, and urban designers. To qualify as a "new urbanist" project, community development should meet the following criteria. Rule out any development that is gated; that lacks sidewalks; or that has a branching, tree-like street system rather than a grid network. Connect well with surrounding neighborhoods, developments, or towns, while protecting regional open space. Rule out "single-use" developments that include only housing, retail, or office space. The various types of building should all be seamlessly integrated and include workplaces, retail establishments, and different types of housing. Include a neighborhood center within easy and safe walking distance from all dwellings in the neighborhood. Buildings should be designed to make the street feel safe and inviting by having front doors, porches, and windows facing the street instead of having a streetscape of garage doors. Include formal civic spaces and squares. Satisfy the "popsicle test" whereby an 8-year-old in the neighborhood could walk to a store to buy a popsicle without encountering fast-moving cars.
A term used to describe development which focuses on the restoration of urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy.
the process of reintegrating the components of modern life - housing, workplace, shopping and recreation - into compact, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods linked by transit and set in a larger regional open space framework.
A movement to re-examine the basic development patterns of our communities and to rediscover the planning and design practices responsible for creating the traditional development patterns of Massachusetts.
A set of development principles summarized in the Charter of the New Urbanism to create more human-scaled places intended to increase accessibility and decrease reliance on the automobile as the primary mode of travel.
describes the movement begun in the 1980s to design new and redesign existing suburbs based on principles largely derived from the older, successful parts of cities (grid layouts, higher densities, excellent pedestrian access to shops, public transport and recreational space and planning to encourage good public transport services)
Neighborhood design trend used to promote community and livability. Characteristics include narrow streets, wide sidewalks, porches, and homes located closer together than typical suburban designs.
Architecture and urban design movement that promotes a return to pre-automobile precepts of community building, including neighborhoods with a generous network of streets and sidewalks; homes with front doors and porches; a mix of housing types and prices; and connections to shops, parks and other amenities.
Similar to Traditional Neighborhood Development, it is a design philosophy intended to create a strong sense of community by incorporating features of traditional small towns.
An urban design and planning movement. New Urbanists combine traditional planning and modern technology to create places that break the conventional suburban mold of malls and highways. Instead, they strive for environmental balance, social integration and a true sense of community.
A branch of land-use planning that seeks to redesign towns so that they have a central downtown area, walkable neighborhoods, and public meeting spaces. Often seen as a solution to urban sprawl.
A community design philosophy that favors the return of new-home development with such traditional features as prominent front porches, backyard garages, multi-use buildings and housing clustered near commercial service areas.
New Urbanism is the movement in favor of the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy. The New Urbanism Charter recognizes that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive physical framework. New Urbanism advocates for the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.
Focuses on revitalizing existing urban areas or building new ones by placing homes within walking distance of employment, shopping, schools and public transportation, much as traditional neighborhoods were developed.
New urbanism is an urban design movement which has risen to prominence since the early 1980s. The goal of new urbanists is to reform all aspects of real estate development and urban planning. These include everything from urban retrofits, to suburban infill.