How to make a Town

This week’s reading focuses on how to create a successful town based on the ideas of Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk- the founders of the Congress for New Urbanism. This idea of New Urbanism has been explored in previous blogs. In summary, it is one way of responding to the negative outcomes (externalities) associated with automobile based suburban sprawl through the promotion of a return to traditional urban design principles (mixed-use development, gridded streets, walkability,etc).
One important point raised in the article is that of developing underutilised areas instead of greenfield development, in order to reduce environmental impacts of development. This idea surfaces in the Draft Canberra Spatial Plan, which aims to increase residential density in the town centres (like Tuggeranong) and along major transport corridors (like Erindale Drive). This links to the idea of a neighbourhood structure that is suited for public transport use that is mentioned in the article.


The importance of creating mixed-use developments (an idea synonymous with new urbanism, and advocated by Jane Jacobs) is emphasised as a way of limiting sprawl but also creating a vibrant community. Creating a balance between residential buildings and workplaces is one aspect of this, and again this is one of the goals outlined in the Draft Canberra Spatial Plan, which aims to increase the amount of people living and working in the same district by 10%.


Although the new urbanist approach of using traditional towns as inspiration can be viewed as idealistic and impractical, I think the aspects of the Draft Canberra Spatial Plan that correspond to the core ideas demonstrate that if the principles behind the movement are considered in the current context, they can be effectively used in current plans. Planning a town using New Urbanist ideas does not have to mean recreating 'old-style' towns (that look like the picture below), but simply using the principles to help address current social, economic and environmental problems.

Seaside, Florida
Source: Coastal Family Living 2011