• Creating a mixed-use college town in an ‘edge city’

    CNU and affiliated designers visited a sprawling part of Charlotte to plan the transition of a 16-acre shopping center into a mixed-use center, with connections to a major university—UNCC. Temporary public space drives suburban retrofit.
    The challenge for University City in Charlotte is two-fold: Finding a way to humanize a classic ‘edge city’ while providing an off-campus gathering space for a major research university, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC). By focusing on the public realm first, a team of designers have...Read more

  • Assessing Poundbury at 30

    In the year of its founder’s coronation, a conference of key partners this fall will examine in detail the pioneering New Urbanist development’s many lessons.
    There is a new town in England whose achievements might draw the envy of any American planner: a beautiful walkable layout with ample provisions for walking, cycling and transit as well as the car; 35 percent permanent affordable housing, “pepper-potted” indistinguishably across the town, and not...Read more

  • A funky mix of transit-oriented development

    When you go to Charlotte, North Carolina, you are likely to wind up in the South End, a funky mix of new buildings and converted warehouse and industrial sites a mile or two south of Uptown, the city’s central business district. The area is noted for its ongoing building boom, but also forms a...Read more

  • Rural urbanist towns: A contradiction or the future?

    Can typical rural towns in America match the walkable and vibrant atmosphere similar to their European counterparts?
    Often when we think about rural towns in the United States, we imagine a single gas station, a small diner, a few fast food chains at the highway exit, and a couple scattered big-box stores with vast parking lots. This generally demonstrates a lack of walkability, entertainment/shopping/dining...Read more