• Public infrastructure investments and how they impact growth

    The infrastructure that supports downtowns and walkable neighborhoods features connected streets, growth focused in specific place types, and design based on the rural-to-urban Transect.
    The Impact of New Urbanism in Northwest Arkansas: CNU is proud to present this article as the first of a 5-part series documenting the impact of New Urbanist principles, as presented at CNU34.Northwest Arkansas. Over five articles, we reflect on key reforms including public infrastructure...Read more

  • New Urbanism and Its Influences in Northwest Arkansas

    We created a Google map —and a drawn illustration above—of places in Northwest Arkansas (NWA) that have either shaped or been shaped by our movement that prioritizes walkability, human-scale design, and compact, mixed-use development. The map was created in honor of CNU 34 , being held in Northwest...Read more

  • Organizing regional growth around a bike-ped trail

    The Razorback Greenway Corridor Plan turns a multi-city trail into an armature for regional growth. Field Operations and Blockwright won a 2026 CNU Charter Award in the Region: Metropolis, City, and Town category.
    The Razorback Greenway Corridor Plan transforms a 40-mile multi-city trail into the organizing regional framework for development in fast-growing Northwest Arkansas. The Greenway, built over the last 10 years, links seven cities and is one of the most important regional bike-ped trails in the US...Read more

  • Growth Without Sameness: Why CNU 34 in Northwest Arkansas matters now

    Northwest Arkansas is hosting CNU 34 this year, and it is not an accidental choice. This is one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and one of the few still deciding what that growth should look like.
    For planners, designers, and local officials asking whether the trip is worth it, the answer is not in the sessions alone. It is in the conditions on the ground. Growth, money, civic investment, and a political culture that is unusually open to New Urbanist ideas, whether or not it uses that...Read more