New urbanism is a term describing how cities should create better futures for all of us. It’s about place-making and fixing or creating compact new towns and villages for people to thrive in.
Principles of new urbanism are
“walkability” – as the 5,10,15 principle from Le Corbusier.
Connectivity – meaning how infrastructure should disperse traffic and ease mobility.
Mixed-use and Diversity – of both building, people and culture.
Mixed housing – providing a range of houses in size, price and proximity.
Quality Architecture and Urban Design – to emphasize aesthetics, a sense of space, and sites within community.
Traditional neighborhood structure – with public spaces at center, invisible city centers and boarders, and transect planning.
Increased density – higher concentration of people, services and resources.
Smart transportation – to connect cities and neighborhoods
Sustainability – to have a minimal environmental impact, with more local production, respect for ecology and value of natural systems.
Quality of life – as a sum of all the principles to create a high quality of life with places that enrich and inspire the human spirit.
The most important benefits of new urbanism is a healthier lifestyle with less stress, with more opportunities to get to know others in the neighborhood. More freedom and independence to children and elderly because of proximity and ease of mobility. Also diversity of business will help people get jobs easier.
Other important aspects are the increased level of community involvement as a result of people taking part in the community and knowing other residents. Also faster approvals will occur in communities that have adopted smart growth principles resulting in cost/time savings. Mixed-use properties for sharing of spaces throughout the day and night. Less spent per capita on infrastructure and utilities. Less crime and less spent on policing due to presence of more people day and night. Less resistance from community, and greater civic involvement of population leading to better governance.
For the next chapter I will discover what place interaction design have taken in the domain of city development. I will research how meaningful interaction between people to facilitate wellbeing. To search for more specific meaning I will later decide between the different levels of development, being: a single building, groups of buildings, the urban block, the neighborhood, towns, cities and regions.
