Top 10 Public Square articles in 2025
The most-read pieces in Public Square: A CNU Journal say a lot about the topics capturing the attention of urbanists today. These include retrofitting suburbs, a proposed new city, density, fighting loneliness, turning a mall into a town center, and Leon Krier.
1) Proposed: A new California city—“California Forever in the Central Valley offers an opportunity to test walkable community-building on a scale we haven’t seen in a century.” For the first time in a long time, a new US city is being proposed on a Jeffersonian grid, with blocks that are scaled so that primary streets—with transit—are located every half mile, north-south and east-west. The California Forever plan is controversial, due to its size, wealthy tech backers, and the way that the development company purchased land in secret. The plan, however, uses a sophisticated grid system to enable non-automotive mobility. The Jeffersonian grid was previously used for cities such as Chicago, Miami, and Oklahoma City. Read the article.
2) Carmel completes its City Center—“The Indiana City, north of Indianapolis, has taken a unique approach to combat sprawl through downtown development.” From an American urban planning perspective, Carmel is one of the most interesting stories in recent decades. Through creative planning, including 155 roundabouts, and the development of a major urban center almost from scratch, Carmel has put itself on the map and is attracting significant corporate investment. Read the article.
3) The research is in on New Urbanism—and it’s stronger than you think—“A survey research project at the University of Notre Dame has painted a remarkably clear picture of the many benefits, but also highlighted the need for smoother implementation pathways.” The evidence for New Urbanism has been based on observations of what works, as well as on piecemeal studies completed over the years on a range of topics—from health to economics, from social interaction to energy efficiency. Notre Dame is leading an effort to gather the scientific data into a convincing, cohesive package. Read the article.
4) Tulsa Global District’s a new kind of Main Street—“The strategic plan for a commercial district with an international identity offers a new approach to suburban retrofit based on a string of parking lot transformations.” Every year, CNU cosponsors Legacy Projects with private firms that seek to have a positive impact on the host region of the annual Congress. The plan for Tulsa’s Global District, a large suburban commercial area, addressed this question: How do you create a community that will function as a traditional “main street” when there is no physical main street? The answer, a tactical, incremental retrofit of this diverse, car-dominated space makes for one of the most unusual and compelling New Urbanist plans. Read the article.
5) Leon Krier, influential urbanist and architect, dies in Spain—The New Urbanism lost many of its intellectual leaders in 2025, foremost among them Leon Krier, a giant in architecture and urbanism who died in June in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Read the article.
6) Leon Krier’s checklist—“The late architect and urban theorist wrote a to-do list for city founders, mayors, administrators, designers, settlers, and landowners.” The checklist is designed to help create and build more livable, life-giving cities and towns. Read the article.
7) To build a center on a former mall—“A mixed-use center is the best way to maximize value from a vacant mall site, but it requires proactive city leadership, as seen in Huntsville.” Enclosed malls, which were the premier retail centers of the last half of the 20th Century, have been dying left and right. MidCity District in Huntsville, Alabama, is a 140-acre mixed-use development on the site of the former Madison Square Mall, built in 1984. The District is a strong example of placemaking in the redevelopment of a dead mall. Read the article.
8) Why we need walkable density for cities to thrive—“Three leaders of the New Urbanism explain why density matters today, how it impacts cities, and the importance of design.” Leading new urbanists David Dixon, Laurie Volk, and Marina Khoury explain why, where, and how density can be used to revive cities. This new urbanist perspective on density is based on a powerful presentation at CNU 33 in Providence. Read the article.
9) Fighting loneliness with parks and third places—“We have a unique opportunity to rethink what it means to create shared spaces. By reimagining downtowns, expanding parks, and supporting hybrid third places, we can design environments that heal, connect, and inspire.” Loneliness is described as an epidemic. The growing isolation of Americans is correlated to the decline of informal community gathering places—like coffee shops, libraries, and parks. Read the article.
10) Downtown Daybreak opening a mixed-use urban center—"The 200-acre downtown for the largest new urban community culminates a plan that grew out of a regional planning effort to reimagine the Wasatch Front metropolis.” Downtown Daybreak has been a long time coming. As of 2025, it features a new Triple-A ballpark for the Salt Lake Bees, an amphitheater, a performing arts center, a large cinema, a health center, a Salt Lake County Library, a mix of residential units, and office space. Read the article.
