• The Cayalá effect in Guatemala City

    The Paseo Cayalá Neighborhood in Guatemala City is a model of open and economically resilient development in a city of gated development. Estudio Urbano and Leon Krier won a 2021 CNU Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category.
    Many developments in Guatemala City, Guatemala, are gated, and the New Town of Cayalá sets a different example: One of welcome and openness to all citizens. This growing town, with 350 shops, 650 residences, and major civic buildings and institutions, revives the architectural identity of the...Read more

  • Factory-built affordability: Are we there yet?

    After more than a decade of sporadic advancements, the factory-built cottage idea may finally have arrived. This development could make a difference in quality affordable housing across the US.
    On March 22, 2021, more than a decade after many assumed such an event would become routine, a small, factory-built home designed to the standards of custom, site-built homes and targeted for infill affordability was lowered onto an infill site in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. “It was a long time...Read more

  • Accessory commercial units as affordable space

    ACUs can bring down the price of a locating a nascent enterprise by an order of magnitude, making business creation accessible to people who come from backgrounds that have been subject to repression, oppression, or other economic disadvantage.
    Note: This is the second of a two-part series exploring Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs), business spaces that attach to residential units, often in largely residential neighborhoods, and how they fit into the toolkit of Incremental Urbanism. See Part 1 . Affordable commercial space is not...Read more

  • ‘Green streets,’ gentle density in a new studio town

    Trilith in Fayetteville, Georgia, is built around the idea that well-designed public space contributes to individual happiness and community well-being. Lew Oliver Inc. won a 2021 CNU Charter Award in the Neighborhood, District, and Corridor category.
    Trilith is inspired by the words of Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogota, Colombia: “Great public space is a kind of magical good. It never ceases to yield happiness. It is almost happiness itself.” With that idea in mind, each part of Trilith is intended to connect to the whole community and...Read more