Different New Urbanisms: a three-pronged typology

Dan Trudeau, "A typology of New Urbanism neighborhoods," Journal of Urbanism 6 (2013): 2

The take-away: Breaking with typologies of New Urbanism that rely on the distinction between ‘infill’ and ‘greenfield’ development, this article works toward an understanding of three variants of New Urbanist development: Mainstream, Dense, and Hybrid. The primary characteristic of Mainstream Urbanism projects can be understood in terms of land use mix, as “projects in this cluster are […] frequently proximate to all of the other land uses” (130). On the other hand, “the land use mix in Dense Urbanism projects is characteristic of the downtown entertainment districts, new town centers, and TODs,” and “there are significantly fewer instances of Dense Urbanism projects that include civic, education, light industrial, and religious land uses” (130). Finally, “the Hybrid Urbanism cluster exhibits the least diverse mix of land uses,” and, “consequently, commercial and retail, entertainment, lodging, and transit land uses are all present to a significantly lesser extent in the Hybrid Urbanism cluster” (130). 

Abstract: This paper describes a framework for understanding the diversity of New Urbanism (NU) in practice in the United States. The framework is based on a nationally representative survey of NU developers that inventories characteristics of NU projects’ built environments across categories of urban design, land use, street configuration, and size. Using cluster analysis, the paper resolves the diversity of NU in practice into three types: Mainstream Urbanism, Dense Urbanism, and Hybrid Urbanism. The paper elaborates on each type, including geographic and temporal aspects of constituent projects. It also considers the ways in which the framework contributes to scholarly understanding of NU and advances the discussion of NU in practice.

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