Civil Engineering, Planning, Urban Design
Civil Engineering, Planning, Urban Design
The Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism states:
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 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 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 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 entire Charter is available on cnu.org
Engineers are sometimes reluctant to adopt New Urbanist design because it is a departure from conventional standards that have been widely accepted since the advent of the automobile. However, most existing traditional neighborhood developments function exceedingly well and have for many years, as evidenced by countless long-established and well-loved towns and city neighborhoods across New England. The character of our built environment can be improved through careful design & engineering, thoughtful collaboration, and implementation of better development.
For more information about TND, New Urbanism, and sustainable communities: