• Counting the impact of incremental development

    In cities across the country, small buildings are demonstrating a big effect on economic development and municipal finance.
    Note: This article is based on research presented at CNU 29: Design for Change , held May 19-21. In many cities and towns, most development activity is located in concentrated pockets with other areas overlooked. Generally, the approach outside of these favored areas is to make infrastructure...Read more

  • 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