#00400009

2-26-99

In the last two decades the New Urbanism movement has begun among planners, designers, and builders. Though it does not provide complete solutions to many of the environmental problems caused by human development, it shows a greater awareness of the undesirable and potentially destructive tendencies exhibited by conventional methods of design, planning and construction. Robert Davis, board chairman of the Congress for the New Urbanism, describes the problem of urban sprawl and development.

"For five millennia, we have built towns and cities with strong centers and clear edges, beyond which lay farms and forests and lakes and streams. For five decades these clear edges have become increasingly ragged, and the centrifugal forces of sprawl have flung a strange collection of objects across the landscape. The strangest of these objects are large boxes with very specialized functions. They are connected to each other by swaths of asphalt and each is surrounded by a small sea of the same material. Their placement relative to each other and to the smaller boxes we live in is designed and planned for the maximum possible consumption of our time, and of energy in various forms, including human..."(http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html).

"Our monoculture development pattern started as a good idea to separate steel mills and slaughter houses from dwellings. Now we rigidly separate all uses: our homes, our workplaces, our children’s schools, the places we assemble. This not only ensures the maximum possible consumption of time and energy, it also separates us from each other"

(http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html). This is a design perspective based on aesthetics instead of environmental health. This indicates that an awareness exists of the destructive nature of current popular development patterns This also indicates that reforms are needed .

The Congress for New Urbanism is an organization composed of builders, planners, and designers dedicated to setting up a formula for future development and the betterment of existing communities. By addressing the problems of "disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl, increased separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural land and wilderness, and the erosion of societies built heritage" (http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html) they plan to reinvest in current urban centers and towns by restructuring the expanding suburbs into more traditional communities. As a part of the solution, The Congress for New Urbanism created the New Urbanist Charter. Within the charter consideration is given to both conservation and preservation of the natural environment. Specifically, the charter states that "development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edge 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." (http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_) Also "New Urban principals also call for networks of streets and paths that encourage pedestrian and bicycle activity and for the use of greenbelts and wildlife corridors to define the edge of communities and protect them from development."(Dunlop p.133) . In addition, emphasis is also focused on reducing the use of automobiles. "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, reducing the number and length of automobile trips and (to) conserve energy.... 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" (http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_). Energy efficiency is also encouraged by the use of available natural energy. "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" (http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_) A greater appreciation is also given to the natural environment and its anthropocentric value to the urbanites. "The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscape. The relationship is environmental, economic, and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as the garden is to the house" (http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_).

In conclusion, New Urbanism is a positive step in the evolution of attitudes toward environmentally aware housing development. This is exhibited in the promotion of community design and planning that makes automobile use less central to daily life. This is also seen in the definition of boundaries and the process of infilling, or improving existing developments within those boundaries. New Urbanism also encourages natural heating and cooling methods and stresses the value of natural environments and farmlands. New Urbanists have taken a step toward a less destructive way of building communities by increasing open space and plant life, and by unifying the design style of all buildings to resemble traditional small towns. In this philosophy, a strong emphasis is placed on improving the economic condition and racial and class diversity in communities. This is accomplished by providing housing at a range of costs and sizes from rooms to apartments and single family homes.

The New Urban movement lacks in understanding and implementation policies that will promote the health of natural native ecosystems within or near developments. At no time were native plants or animal life mentioned within the charter. There was no mention of anything that resembled an ecological service. There was no mention of watershed, watertables, or their conditions. Nor was their any specific mention of the use of natural recyclable or sustainable materials in construction. These facts make me aware that there needs to be more collaboration and sharing of knowledge between planners, designers, builders, and ecologists.

If ecological concerns are not given consideration in development, ultimately all life forms will suffer. If biologists and ecologists do not understand the essential elements of economics and aesthetics in design when communicating their concerns, nothing will be done to correct current development trends until human health is severely effected.

CNU Update

http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html

Environmental Building News

http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_

Beth Dunlop, Architectural Record Jan. 97, The New Urbanists The Second Generation, p.132-135