• 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

  • How a brownfield redevelopment is revitalizing city neighborhoods

    Pearl in San Antonio, a Charter Award winner, is becoming the heart of a 15-minute city.
    The Pearl Brewery redevelopment in San Antonio, Texas, has long been a great example of brownfield transformation into an urban village. The development, which won a CNU Charter Award in 2015, is sandwiched between an elevated highway and the San Antonio River. The original 20-plus-acre project has...Read more

  • Lived experience and urbanism

    The impact of urbanism on day-to-day life may be the strongest argument for change.
    I have long been wary of the term “lived experience,” as it seemed redundant. If you live through something, isn’t that an experience by definition? And isn’t all experience lived? After I heard the term applied to urbanism, however, I am coming around. Lived experience relates to day-to-day living...Read more

  • The impact of a downtown plan

    Let the ride begin: An image shows how West Palm Beach is a different place three decades after a master plan and code.
    The image above caught my eye in the Art of the New Urbanism, Volume 2 (2010-2025) . “The rendering represents an analysis of the built results of DPZ’s 1992 Downtown West Palm Beach Master Plan,” explain the AoTNU authors. “The footprints of the built/redeveloped properties appear shaded in red...Read more