Unit 1: A Crisis of Place and the Alternative of the New Urbanism

Introduction

This unit introduces the crisis of place that is the result of sixty years of sprawl and urban disinvestment and the alternative presented by the New Urbanism. It is a crisis that has generated searing critiques from urbanists beginning with Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs and William Whyte in the 1950s, environmentalists such as Ian McHarg and Rachel Carson since the 1960s, and an endless stream of research by social scientists since the Costs of Sprawl study was published by the Real Estate Research Corporation in 1974. It is a crisis fueled and sustained by systemic inertia and a fragmented approach to the planning, design and development of our communities. A crisis that has now spawned spontaneous, independent efforts to plan, design and build more livable, sustainable communities with a mix of uses, an attractive public realm with walkable streets and public gathering places, public transit, and a range of housing choices: the alternative paradigm of the New Urbanism.