New Urbanism

New Urbanism is an urban design movement, developed in the United States from the late 1970s through the 1990s, that promotes walkable, mixed-use neighbourhoods with a diversity of housing and job types as a direct response to postwar suburban sprawl and automobile dependence. Its theoretical roots draw on Leon Krier's traditional urban visions and Christopher Alexander's pattern-language theories, and the term gained currency in the mid-1980s. Leading practitioners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, together with Peter Calthorpe, translated the theory into built form and in 1993 founded the Congress for the New Urbanism, adopting a Charter that extended the movement's concerns to historic preservation, safe streets, green building and brownfield redevelopment. New Urbanist design favours neighbourhoods with a discernible, walkable centre, narrow tree-shaded streets that favour pedestrians over cars, a connected street network, and public civic space. The movement produced influential built exemplars, from Seaside, Florida, begun in 1981, to Disney's Celebration, Florida, and international projects including Poundbury in England and Val d'Europe in France, and it remains controversial, drawing both praise and criticism from across the political spectrum.