The rise of mixed-use urban developments and digital districts

Abstract

This chapter analyses the evolution of residential districts and how the knowledge economy and the new information and communication technologies have influenced the rise of new mixed-use urban developments, as a better way to achieve a more vivid, sustainable and cohesive environment. During the eighties, there were two main urban movements: the revival of the urban grid as a role model for the regeneration of cities in Europe and the New Urbanism as a reaction to urban sprawl in USA. The growth of the environmental concern in the nineties derived in the emergence of ecodistricts, designed with principles of sustainability. Finally, in recent years, digital districts have been developed, areas that combine the principles of the mixed-uses, the promotion of knowledge society and concern about the design of public realm; places conceived to live in, work in and enjoy throughout the day.