• Champs-Elysees transformation going forward

    The famous Paris artery Champs-Elysees, terminated by the landmark Arc de Triomphe, is due for a major redesign. The legendary avenue lost much of its splendor in recent decades, many Parisians believe, as eight lanes of traffic carry an average of 3,000 vehicles per hour. Mayor Ann Hidalgo, known...Read more

  • Architecture and urbanism in the climate change era

    Architecture & the City, part polemic and part auto-biography, makes the case for how architecture should be taught and the city planned to address some of the world's biggest challenges—by learning from the past.
    A revealing pair of images in Michael Dennis’s magnificent new book Architecture & the City compare a selection of contemporary buildings from well known architects around the world with an image of Boston’s Back Bay. The former is a collection of weird freestanding sculptural shapes unrelated...Read more

  • A farewell to one-size-fits-all urbanism

    Sustaining culture and character is more than a black or white proposition. It requires a careful blend that depends on local circumstances, meticulous research, and self-knowledge.
    Like idiomatic phrases that say similar things in a variety of languages, urban environments are customized adaptations to different conditions. Sustaining culture and character is more than a black or white proposition. It requires a careful blend that depends on local circumstances, meticulous...Read more

  • Apply for a Charter Award, and help build a movement

    CNU is now seeking applications for the 2021 Charter Awards. Going back to 2001, the Charter Awards have highlighted best practices and spread New Urbanism ideas worldwide. More than 300 Charter Awards have been awarded by CNU juries over the last two decades. Over that time, Charter Awards have...Read more