elderly to stay involved with the general life of the
community.
If this sounds a lot like New Urbanism, it is. There
is a direct match between the objectives of Active
Living by Design and the principles of New
Urbanism and Smart Growth. The demographic
trends, coupled with the explicit linking of urban
design with public health, promise a radical shift in
planning and development policies in the years
ahead. In 2003, the number of new developments in
America that satisfied this kind of lifestyle comprised
only a very small percentage of residential construc-
tion, but future market demand as much as any plan-
ning policies will stimulate a major increase in this
type of urban neighborhood.
To these demographic and market forces for
change can be added the growing sense among
Americans that the physical environment is a pre-
cious resource to be preserved, or at least not totally
subjugated to urban uses. As we discussed in Chapter 2,
the loss of natural landscape and open space, coupled
with increasing levels of pollution in America’s air
and water are problems understood by an increasing
proportion of public opinion. The aggregation of all
these various trends and attitudes, combined with the
awesome projections for population growth in the
USA over the next two decades (an increase of 50–60
million people to a total population figure of approxi-
mately 340 million in 2020) allows us to make fore-
casts about the future form of American cities based
on solid realities.
Some commentators see sufficient evidence to
anticipate that American cities will develop a more
concentrated urban form with more intensive uses
surrounded by protected natural areas (McIlwain,
2002). We are not so optimistic. This sounds too
much like Europe to be practical in America. We
expect American cities to continue to sprawl to the
point of dysfunction before any radical change
occurs, and by that time cities will have extended into
surrounding areas past the point of efficient restruc-
turing without massive government redirection of
policies and resources. Whether American society
will evolve to permit such action is a question too
large for the scope of this book, but we see little sign
of this major redirection of national objectives.
However, within the large-scale inefficiency of
sprawling, market-driven metropolitan urbanism, we
do expect small-scale efficiencies to take root – exam-
ples of micro-sustainability sufficient to form the
basis of a more rational urban form should one
emerge over a longer time frame. Our case studies
illustrate such micro examples in the hope that they
can be repeated enough times in enough places, and
improved upon in the process, so that a critical mass
of good practice can be established. In this way, suffi-
cient momentum may be generated to offset the
worst excesses of the mega-sprawl that’s just over the
American horizon.
These small-scale successes build on four progres-
sive trends in American urbanism. The first, but not
the dominant one, is the continued regeneration of
city centers, whereby central business districts are
transforming themselves into central cultural and
entertainment districts with a strong residential com-
ponent. Charlotte is an excellent example of this
trend, with 50 000 daily employees in its office tow-
ers, and nearly 8000 residents living downtown in
medium and high-density housing. City streets that
in 1990 were arid corridors deserted of pedestrians
are now home to a vibrant street life, with museums,
art galleries, performing arts venues, bars, restau-
rants, and even the occasional political demonstra-
tion enlivening the urban scene (see Figure 6.1).
However, not all cities will be able to achieve this
transformation, and those that fail are likely to be
ones that face the most precipitous decline in
economic fortune.
This process of urban regeneration is shared by
Britain and America, with British cities like
CHAPTER SIX
●
URBAN DESIGN IN THE REAL WORLD
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