New Urbanist Movement
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s and continues to reform many aspects of real estate development and urban planning. New Urbanism is strongly influenced by urban design standards prominent before the rise of the automobile and encompasses principles such as traditional neighborhood design (TND) and transit-oriented development (TOD). The organizing body for New Urbanism is the “Congress for the New Urbanism”, founded in 1993. Its foundational text is the “Charter of the New Urbanism” which says: “We advocate 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.”
Lecture by Leon Krier
Attention all urbanists and architects in Miami! There is a lecture by Leon Krier, internationally renowned new urbanist, in the University of Miami, Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center on September 15th at 6:00 p.m.
The Corporate City – Atlanta’s Atlantic Station
I drove through Atlanta, Georgia the other day on my way up to the northeast and decided to stop by and check out Atlantic Station. Atlantic Station is a new development to the north of Downtown Atlanta, close to Midtown, built on an abandoned train depot. The development is a New Urbanist type mega redevelopment encompassing 138 acres that promises a new walkable lifestyle with conveniences nearby.
