• Applying New Urbanism principles to harness future growth

    Here are the remarks of CNU President Mallory Baches at the opening keynote of CNU34 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on May 13.
    Good afternoon! I am Mallory Baches, and it is my honor to be the President of CNU and welcome each of you to Northwest Arkansas! Alongside my co-lead, CNU’s Executive Director Margaret Gattis, I am proud to lead this organization that offers such a profound sense of hope for communities: a vision...Read more

  • You’re already practicing public health

    Places shape people and determine health outcomes. Those who shape the public realm are health practitioners, and this needs to be more widely understood.
    The civil engineer who specifies a twelve-foot lane instead of a ten. The architect who orients a mixed-use building toward the parking lot rather than the sidewalk. The developer who builds eighty garden apartments wrapped around surface parking— but no playground or public spaces. The planner who...Read more

  • Urbanists in the land of Walmart

    CNU is on the last day of its annual Congress, CNU 34, which is taking place in Northwest Arkansas (NWA) this year. One of the fastest-growing regions in the US, NWA's economy is driven by its status as home to major corporations, including Walmart. More than 1,200 urbanists gathered in Bentonville...Read more

  • A vision of housing, public space for Baltimore

    Madison Crescent shows how infill development can offer housing solutions in historic cities. A University of Maryland, College Park design team won a Student Merit Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category of the 2026 CNU Charter Awards.
    Madison Crescent proposes a new use for a six-acre infill parcel in Baltimore that currently includes a former elementary school and community building slated for demolition. It shows how infill development in historic cities can create high-quality public space and unite diverse neighborhoods...Read more