New Urbanism

Critique of Postwar Suburbs

New Urbanists argue that postwar American suburb-planners, developers, and policymakers mistakenly abandoned a humane planning tradition developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in favor of an overly rationalized approach in which each tract of land is assigned a single use and automobile transportation is required. The result is “sprawl,” a term of derision used to characterize the ever-expanding suburban landscape of single-family houses, high-speed roads, and “big-box” chain retail stores that pervades American metropolitan regions. New Urbanists believe sprawl is the major contributor to environmental degradation in its accelerating consumption of farmland, energy, and natural resources. They see it as a source of economic mal-formation, a consequence of the increasing amounts of public and private resources devoted to automobile travel. Most of all, they argue that sprawl engenders personal anomie, social fragmentation, and lack of civic engagement as a consequence of the ways suburbs sort people by income level, household composition, and, intentionally or not, race and ethnicity.

Proposals for Renewal

If the physical environment—sprawl—can be blamed for these ills, New Urbanists argue, new techniques of urban design can restore connection and community. At the heart of New Urbanist projects is an emphasis on densely settled, compact neighborhoods that mix civic, commercial, and residential activities as well as residents of differing income levels, and that are structured so that much of their residents' daily routine can be accomplished on foot. A quarter-mile radius or a fifteen-minute walk is often cited as the ideal size for such neighborhoods. In contrast to the hierarchical, or dendriform, suburban model of cul-de-sacs, collector streets, and arteries, New Urbanist neighborhoods are (ideally) structured around a grid of narrow streets, allowing multiple interconnections but restricting the speed and volume of traffic on any one street. Curbside parking along narrow streets helps slow down traffic. Houses stand on relatively narrow lots and are set close to the street, with front porches that encourage neighborly interaction and with garages and other services relegated to rear alleys to avoid the long, blank succession of garage doors that New Urbanists say characterizes the typical suburb.

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