The Urban Footprint

Abstract

Translating the design principles of traditional and green urbanism into practical standards for development involves rethinking the basic building blocks of the region and its jurisdictions—creating a new armature of circulation along with a new language for zoning and planning. In the end, our transportation system will shift from autocentric roads and highways to a finer-grained, more connected network that provides for the pedestrian, bikes, and transit as well as autos—what are now called “complete streets.” Likewise, our approach to planning will shift from segregated single-use zones to a rich, finer-grained lexicon of mixed-use places and communities. Rather than the simplistic land use designations found on most zoning maps today, diverse “place types” are needed to design complete regions, cities, and towns. There are five basic categories of such a place-based approach to community design: neighborhoods, centers, districts, preserves, and corridors.

A new taxonomy of mixed-use places will replace the old pattern of single-use zones—neighborhoods replacing subdivisions, village centers replacing shopping centers, and town centers replacing office parks and malls.