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SYNOPSIS
This is a long chapter, and it ranges from informed
speculation about the future of American cities to the
mechanics of working in community design char-
rettes. First we look at the circumstances that are
shaping the American city, and ask the questions:
what kinds of cities are American urban designers
likely to be working in during the early decades of the
twenty-first century, and what cultural forces are
likely to shape the nation’s urban areas? In answering
these questions we take an optimistic view that some
degree of rationality will prevail, and that at least at a
local level, progress can be made toward a more
sustainable urban future. We are less optimistic
about the chances of improvements in national
policy toward the urban and natural environments
in the USA. Stewardship of America’s future will
likely come from individual cities and consortia of
civic and business interests rather than national gov-
ernment, and thus these efforts will be limited
in their overall effectiveness. Like our case studies in
the subsequent chapters, examples of good design
and planning will tend to be sporadic rather than
coordinated.
If this is the case, it’s all the more important that
Smart Growth and New Urbanist practice must pro-
vide accessible models for other places to emulate,
and thus create an extensive body of precedent and a
momentum for better design nationwide. To this
end, it’s important that these initiatives take advan-
tage of the full range of urban design techniques; this
will improve each project’s chances of success, and by
demystifying these techniques we hope that they will
be used extensively and often, not only by urban
designers, but by planners and other parties in the
development process who don’t have a design back-
ground. Accordingly we extend our discussion from
Chapter 4 on concepts of urban design to include
more detailed practical advice.
Finally we discuss urban design master plans and
the charrette process that we use to produce them.
We explain our working methods as a prelude to the
case studies. We discuss in detail some of the urban
and development typologies that we insert into the
design and planning process as catalysts for change,
and we offer guidance about implementation strate-
gies, including design-based zoning.