The Charter of the New Urbanism is truly a seminal document

Life happens at Atlantic Station, Atlanta. To be fair, most shopping centers have such signs. They just don't usually add the marketing tagline, which is out of sorts with the rules.

In response to my little outburst yestereday about new urbanism, a colleague wrote:

there is a strong and determined group within CNU and outside that support the following statements in the Charter with passion and determination:

"We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions.....
......communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.....
....Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river basins. ......
.......The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The relationship is environmental, economic, and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as the garden is to the house........
.......Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. Infill development within existing urban areas conserves environmental resources, economic investment, and social fabric, while reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage such infill development over peripheral expansion.......
.......Where appropriate, new development contiguous to urban boundaries should be organized as neighborhoods and districts, and be integrated with the existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized as towns and villages with their own urban edges, and planned for a jobs/housing balance, not as bedroom suburbs.......
.......The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries.........
........The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework of transportation alternatives. Transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems should maximize access and mobility throughout the region while reducing dependence upon the automobile........."

I sometimes forget what a great document the Charter for the New Urbanism really is. It's up there with Jane Jacobs.
From the book Suburban Nation.
Kimberly Viviano, Viviano + Company. People Powered/Oak Park, Illinois. The Big Idea: A system of signs posted along Chicago's lakefront would inform drivers and bicyclists of the human, financial, and environmental benefits of riding a bike to work versus driving a car. Courtesy Viviano + Company. Via Metropolis Magazine.

Index Keywords: new-urbanism