• The infinite suburb? They must be joking

    In their visions of the future, the elite graduate schools of urban planning lately see a new-and-improved suburbia, based on self-driving electric cars, “drone deliveries at your doorstep,” and “teardrop-shaped one-way roads” (I think that means cul-de-sacs) as the coming sure thing. It sounds...Read more

  • New Urbanism is far from dead—but it is evolving

    The folks who brought us walkable downtowns and transit-oriented development have a new challenge to tackle: climate change.
    New Urbanism is dead, writes Bill Fulton on the October issue of Governing . Fulton, director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, says New Urbanist thinking has so thoroughly permeated the mainstream that it no longer needs a movement to champion it. Not so fast. Today,...Read more

  • Great idea: The polycentric region

    Market and local government support for new urbanist values is rising and that is changing the planning mindset in many regions.
    In celebration of the 25th Congress for the New Urbanism , Public Square is running the series 25 Great Ideas of the New Urbanism. These ideas have been shaped by new urbanists and continue to influence cities, towns, and suburbs. The series is meant to inspire and challenge those working toward...Read more

  • The great Caribbean Rim rebuilding challenge

    Sustainability takes many forms on the building and community scale in the Caribbean. Here are keys to places that stand the test of time.
    As Caribbean Rim nations move from emergency relief to disaster recovery mode in the coming weeks and months, strong consideration should be given to the ways in which places should be rebuilt, both at the scale of towns and of buildings. This, the worst hurricane season in twelve years, has caused...Read more