The Congress for the New Urbanism views disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl, increasing separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands and wilderness, and the erosion of society’s built heritage as one interrelated community-building challenge.
We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy.
We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; 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.
We recognize that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive physical framework.
We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector leaders, community activists, and multidisciplinary professionals. We are committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of building and the making of community, through citizen-based participatory planning and design.
We dedicate ourselves to reclaiming our homes, blocks, streets, parks, neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and environment.
| The Region: Metropolis, City, and Town | The Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor | The Block, the Street, and the Building |
| 1) Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are cities, towns, and villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges. 2) The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world. Governmental cooperation, public policy, physical planning, and economic strategies must reflect this new reality. 3) 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. 4) 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. 5) Where appropriate, new development contigu- ous 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. 6) The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries. 7) Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and private uses to support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes. Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty. 8) 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. 9) Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the municipalities and centers within regions to avoid destructive competition for tax base and to promote rational coordination of transportation, recreation, public services, housing, and community institutions. |
10) The neighborhood, the district, and the corridor are the essential elements of development and redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and evolution. 11) Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian friendly, and mixed-use. Districts generally emphasize a special single use, and should follow the principles of neighborhood design when possible. Corridors are regional connectors of neighborhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail lines to rivers and parkways. 12) Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing independence to those who do not drive, especially the elderly and the young. Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage walking, reduce the number and length of automobile trips, and conserve energy. 13) Within neighborhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can bring people of diverse ages, races, and incomes into daily interaction, strengthening the personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic community. 14 ) Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centers. In contrast, highway corridors should not displace investment from existing centers. 15) Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile. 16) Concentrations of civic, institutional, and commercial activity should be embedded in neighborhoods and districts, not isolated in remote, single-use complexes. Schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them. 17) The economic health and harmonious evolution of neighborhoods, districts, and corridors can be improved through graphic urban design codes that serve as predictable guides for change. 18) A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community gardens, should be distributed within neighborhoods. Conservation areas and open lands should be used to define and connect different neighbor- hoods and districts. |
19) A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use. 20) Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style. 21) The revitalization of urban places depends on safety and security. The design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at the expense of accessibility and openness. 22) In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accommodate automobiles. It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space. 23) Streets and squares should be safe, comfort- able, and interesting to the pedestrian. Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities. 24) Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice. 25) Civic buildings and public gathering places require important sites to reinforce community identity and the culture of democracy. They deserve distinctive form, because their role is different from that of other buildings and places that constitute the fabric of the city. 26) All buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of location, weather and time. Natural methods of heating and cooling can be more resource-efficient than mechanical systems. 27) Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm the continuity and evolution of urban society. Congress for the New Urbanism |
© Copyright 2001 by Congress for the New Urbanism. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without written permission.
CNU Council: Official Schedule
CNU Council Montgomery: What is the Future of New Urbanism in the New Economy?
Friday October 14
Optional Tours 1pm-2pm
Montgomery Infill Tour including Charter Award-winning A&P Development, Old Cloverdale, Garden District, Oak Park, Lanier Place and Huntingdon College
Tour of Hampstead including a detailed exploration of Hampstead and its Charter Award-recognized town square, neighborhood farm, “pocket” pool, and New Economy-inspired Tipping Point commercial building
Tour of The Waters including its signature natural amenities, meeting house, bungalow court, town center, and diverse housing types
Downtown Montgomery Walking Tour including Historic Dexter Avenue, State Capital area, and Downtown SmartCode projects
All tours will be guided and will include behind the scene access and a history conversation of each tour project/area that will specifically discuss how these projects are adapting to the realities of the New Economy.
All tours are free to CNU Council participants.
Opening Session: 6pm-8pm
Join Victor Dover and Andres Duany as they present their detailed critique of New Urbanism in the 21st Century with a candid look at how New Urbanism must adapt to the realities of the New Economy. They will look at the actual practices of the New Urbanism to date and critically reevaluate those practices in light of the New Economy
Candid critiques. Real ideas. From two of the New Urbanism’s most prominent practitioners.
Rooftop Reception: 8pm-9pm
Join us for a bird’s eye view of Downtown Montgomery for an exclusive reception atop one of the City’s historic rooftops being revitalized as part of the Downtown Master Plan.
An Alley Evening: 9pm-Until
Join fellow New Urbanists for an evening of entertainment as we tour through Downtown Montgomery’s Alley District.
Saturday, October 15
What is the Future of New Urbanism Project Types? 9am-Noon
Leading New Urban practitioners will use built and adopted New Urban projects in Montgomery to critique not just these specific projects but the efficacy of these very project types in the New Economy. The question to be answered is if the New Urbanism should continue to advocate for these project types and, if so, how must they change to meet the New Realities of the New Economy.
What is the Future of Infill Redevelopment? A&P Development Case Study Self critique by project developers Anna Lowder and Harvi Sahota
What is the Future of Greenfield Development? Hampstead and The Waters Case Studies
Hampstead self critique by Chad Emerson, Director of Development for the City of Montgomery The Waters self critique by Nathan Norris
What is the Future of Municipal Master Planning? Downtown Montgomery Master Plan, West Fairview Corridor Plan Case Studies Downtown Master Plan self critique by project principal Victor Dover/Response critique by Scott Polikov
Maxwell Boulevard Plan self critique by project director Jason King/Response critique by Dan Camp
All topics will include a self-critique and response critique followed by an open conversation.
Please contact Chad Emerson at chad.emerson@montgomeryal.gov if you are interested in providing a response critique.
Working Lunch Conversation Noon-1.00pm
Join New Urbanists Scott Polikov and Rob Dickson, along with Montgomery’s Deputy Mayor Jeff Downes, as they lead an interactive working lunch conversation that addresses several key questions related to New Urbanism and the New Economy. They include:
What roles can/should municipal governments provide in advancing New Urbanism in the New Economy?
What it will take to access the debt and equity markets for New Urbanism and what is the CNU’s role in doing so?
What do New Urban developers need from CNU in the “new” economy? What partners (with an emphasis on development) are ready to embrace CNU and why haven’t they done so yet?
What is the Future of New Urbanism Planning Tools? 1.00pm-4.00pm
Leading New Urban practitioners will discuss, among others, the future practicality and financial reality of several key tools that the New Urbanism has embraced.
Will these tools survive the New Economy? If so, how must the change to adapt…If not, what tools might replace them? Topics include:
What is the Future of Tools Designed to Address Suburban Retrofit and Sprawl Repair? Self critique by Ellen Dunham-Jones
What is the Future of Housing Demand and Types for New Urbanists? Self critique by Todd Zimmerman
What is the Future of the Charrette System Used by New Urbanists?
All topics will include a self-critique and response critique followed by an open conversation.
Please contact Chad Emerson at chad.emerson@montgomeryal.gov if you are interested in providing a response critique.
An Alabama Evening Supper: Local Food at Our Downtown Farm 5pm to 7pm
Join New Urbanists at the Hampstead Institute Downtown Farm along the Alabama River for an outdoor evening of local food and conversation led by Edwin Marty, author of Breaking Concrete and the new Executive Director of the Hampstead Institute.
Nighttime Cruise on the Alabama River 7pm to 8pm
Montgomery was first settled in this location because of its river access--access that is navigable all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. While we won’t go quite that far, this nighttime cruise on the Harriott II will be an excellent opportunity to see the night lights of Alabama’s State Capital and continue the conversations from the day’s events.
Sunday, October 16
Closing Conversation 9am to 11am
What’s Next for New Urbanism in the 21st Century? Addressing the Obstacles Going Forward
Join CNU President John Norquist as he leads a closing conversation on what specific next steps must the New Urbanism take to adapt to the New Realities of the New Economy.
John will focus on obstacles such as federal funding, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, and other systemic hurdles that require addressing in order for the New Urbanism to prosper in the New Economy.
The session will be designed to begin this critical conversation that will continue into next year’s “Brave New World” Congress for the New Urbanism in Palm Beach, Florida.
A response critique led by a representative of the CNU NextGen will follow.