• Seaside: A model for Lean and green

    The resort town in the Florida Panhandle is best known for being compact, walkable and diverse in uses and places, but Seaside has also become known as one of the first environmentally designed new towns.
    Note: This article was written as part of the Project for Lean Urbanism and edited for Public Square. Seaside is best known for being compact, walkable, and diverse—but it also has a reputation for its environmental design. Now it should be recognized as a model of Lean Urbanism. Of course, those...Read more

  • The struggles of ‘golf course communities’ and the foresight of New Urbanism

    Developer Bob Turner talks about Habersham, the future of traditional neighborhood developments, and current development trends.
    A recent article from coastal South Carolina tells the story of gated golf course communities where owners are selling their lots for a dollar, sometimes in tax sales, to get out from under heavy homeowner fees on properties that remain vacant. This problem was predicted 18 years ago by new urban...Read more

  • In dark ages, hope lies in the city

    On the centenary of Jane Jacobs’s birth, architects and planners lauded her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities . Both loved and reviled upon its release, it has come to be seen as one of the essential books about the city, the importance of lively, diverse neighbourhoods and housing...Read more

  • China chokes on high-density sprawl

    Superblocks with high-rise towers surrounded by giant arterial roads are a threat to economic, social, and environmental sustainability. The Asian superpower has a new plan, but can change come in time?
    Note: This article is part of a collaboration between Island Press and Public Square on a series of articles based on recently published books on subjects related to urbanism. Cities affect our lives in profound, self-reinforcing ways: they can be a source of economic innovation, a pathway for...Read more