[wordup] Fwd: New Urbanism

[Adam Shand]

This is very cool.  Appears to be a practical attempt to design a city 
based on the ideas in "A Pattern Language".  Makes me all tingly ...

Adam.

Via: "Schwartfeger, Richard" richard.schwartfeger.hp.com
From: http://www.carfree.com/

The Problem

The industrialized nations made a terrible mistake when they turned to 
the automobile as an instrument of improved urban mobility. The car 
brought with it major unanticipated consequences for urban life and has 
become a serious cause of environmental, social, and aesthetic problems 
in cities. The urban automobile:

• 	Kills street life
• 	Damages the social fabric of communities
• 	Isolates people
• 	Fosters suburban sprawl
• 	Endangers other street users
• 	Blots the city's beauty
• 	Disturbs people with its noise
• 	Causes air pollution
• 	Slaughters thousands every year
• 	Exacerbates global warming
• 	Wastes energy and natural resources
•	Impoverishes nations

The challenge is to remove cars and trucks from cities while at the 
same time improving mobility and reducing its total costs.

The Solution

The urban automobile can only be supplanted if a better alternative is 
available. What would happen if we designed a city to work without any 
cars? Would anyone want to live in such a city? Does it make social, 
economic, and esthetic sense? Is it possible to be free of the 
automobile while keeping the rapid and convenient mobility it once 
offered?

Public transport is typically a disagreeable and slow substitute for 
the car. It needs to become a pleasant experience and should attain the 
average speed of a car in light city traffic. This can be achieved 
using proven technology, but densely-populated neighborhoods are a 
prerequisite for rapid mobility and economical public transport. 
Fortunately, dense cities can also offer a superior quality of life.

We should build more carfree cities. Venice, the largest existing 
example, is loved by almost everyone and is an oasis of peace despite 
being one of the densest urban areas on earth. We can also convert 
existing cities to the carfree model over a period of decades.

Design Goals

The design of cities is driven by three principal needs:

• 	High quality of life
• 	Efficient use of resources
• 	Fast transport of people and goods

Design Standards

The fulfillment of these needs in a carfree city gives rise to the 
following design standards:

Rapid Transport

Provide fast access to all parts of the city. In a city of one million 
it should be possible to get anywhere in considerably less than an 
hour. Passengers should never have to transfer more than once.

Nearby Stations

Both in consideration of time and of the limited mobility of small 
children, the elderly, and the infirm, nearby transport halts are 
required. The design standard is a five-minute walk.

Nearby Green Space

Green space should be available within a five-minute walk of virtually 
every front door.

Four-Story Buildings

Buildings should generally be limited to a height of four stories 
because higher buildings appear to be harmful to the people who must 
live in them. (See A Pattern Language for a detailed discussion of this 
point.)

Economical Freight Transport

City economies depend on fast, economical freight transport. A city 
which intends to keep trucks off its streets must make workable 
provisions for freight transport.

Going Carfree

The carfree city can be built. Venice is proof enough.

The four billion inhabitants of the developing world seem eager to 
adopt Western patterns of car use. They should be advised of the costs 
and encouraged to think about better solutions. Can the planet carry 
the ecological burden? The developed nations cannot deny developing 
nations the use of technology and resources that are used in the 
developed nations. Since most of the world's cars are found in the 
developed nations, they must take the lead in designing and building 
carfree cities.

Carfree cities probably must become the norm by the end of the 21st 
Century, due to energy constraints. We should begin now to prepare for 
the change, which is an opportunity to build urban environments 
superior to any ever known.