New Urbanism in the New Urban Agenda

Threads of an Unfinished Reformation

Bibliographic Data

ID22018460
AuthorsMichael W Mehaffy (0000-0002-1766-3631, KTH Royal Institute of Technology), Tigran Haas (0000-0003-2386-0663, KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Year2020
Volume5
Issue4
Pages441-452
Publication date2020-12-22
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Planning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2183-7635 • E-ISSN: 2183-7635
PublisherCogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT)
DOI10.17645/up.v5i4.3371
OpenAlexW3115453477
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited9

We present evidence that New Urbanism, defined as a set of normative urban characteristics codified in the 1996 Charter of the New Urbanism, reached a seminal moment—in mission if not in name—with the 2016 New Urban Agenda, a landmark document adopted by acclamation by all 193 member states of the United Nations. We compare the two documents and find key parallels between them (including mix of uses, walkable multi-modal streets, buildings defining public space, mix of building ages and heritage patterns, co-production of the city by the citizens, and understanding of the city as an evolutionary self-organizing structure). Both documents also reveal striking contrasts with the highly influential 20th century Athens Charter, from 1933, developed by the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne. Yet, both newer documents also still face formidable barriers to implementation, and, as we argue, each faces similar challenges in formulating effective alternatives to business as usual. We trace this history up to the present day, and the necessary requirements for what we conclude is an ‘unfinished reformation’ ahead

Archaeology · Charter · Civil engineering · Ecological urbanism · Landscape urbanism · Operations management · Parallels · Political science · Sociology · Urban design · Urban planning · Urbanism · Engineering · History · Law · Public Administration · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Architecture

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access