New Urbanisms: From Neo-Traditional Neighbourhoods to New Regionalism

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.