By Dom Nozzi
..The
neighborhood..The
block
Introduction
The Congress for
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 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.
We assert the following principles to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and design:
The
region: Metropolis, city, and town
Metropolitan regions
are finite places with geographical 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.
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.
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.
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.
Where appropriate,
new development contiguous 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.
The development
and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns,
precedents, and boundaries. 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.
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. 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.
The
neighborhood, the district, and the corridor
The neighborhood,
the district, and the corridor are essential elements of development and
redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage
citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and evolution.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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 neighborhoods and
districts.
A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.
Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style;
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.
In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accomodate automobiles. It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space.
Streets and squares should be safe, comfortable, and interesting to the pedestrian. Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities.
Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice.
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.
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.
Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm the community and evolution of urban society.
Information
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