Course Requirements

The course consists of ten instructional units that students complete on their own time, within a 90-day period of registering for the course. Each unit includes required supplementary readings in addition to the online content. There is an online exam that students take upon completion of the units. Students who complete the course and pass the exam receive a certificate from the University of Miami School of Architecture.

Three books are required:

  1. Charter of the New Urbanism, Michael Leccese and Kathleen McCormick, eds.
    (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000). This book is out of print, but can be downloaded as a pdf from the Congress for the New Urbanism store. Download now from the CNU.
  2. New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, 4th Edition, by Robert Steuteville, Philip Langdon, et. al. (Ithaca, NY: New Urban Publications, 2009). Buy now from New Urban News at a a special rate of $59 plus shipping for NU Online students, please send them the order form, along with the email confirmation you received from us.
  3. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck (New York: North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000) Buy now from Amazon.com.
Other Requirements:

New Urbanist Media Short Courses The following six videos are required viewing and available on the New Urbanism Online Course website thanks to our partners at New Urbanist Media.  The videos are included in the price of tuition.

Upon completion of these videos we recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity to receive AIA Learning Units, available at a 25% discounted rate for these courses. Participating in this program gives you the opportunity to receive, 8+ AIA continuing Ed credits through the viewing and quiz of their mini-courses. To learn more about how to receive AIA Learning Units, please visit the New Urbanist Media website.

  1. "Our Civic Spaces" with James Howard Kunstler
  2. "Multi-Generational Demand for Urbanism" with Monte Anderson, Andres Duany and Todd C. LaRue
  3. "New Urbanism Basics: Changing the Model" with Andres Duany
  4. "Seaside Florida Tours" with Andres Duany & Robert Davis
  5. "The Sustainable Block" with Jeff Speck, Judith Corbett, Lee Rayburn and Bill Dunster
  6. "Green Solutions Along the Transect" with Andres Duany
  7. Optional - "The Sustainable City" with Timothy Beatly, Marcia Himenez and Doug Farr
  8. Optional - "The High Intensity Block" with Ralph Johnson, Tiffany Switzer and Robert Freedman


Technical Requirements

  • Internet access (slower connections may affect the download speed, and in turn
    affect the timer).
  • Web Browser, including Internet Explorer 5.5 or above, Netscape 6.x or above,
    Mozilla Firefox, Google Crome, or Apple Safari 1.x or higher