Geography · 10th Grade · Urbanization and Industrialization · Weeks 37-45

New Urbanism and Smart Growth

Designing the cities of the future with a focus on ecology and equity.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Geo.12.9-12
• C3: D2.Civ.13.9-12

About This Topic

New Urbanism emerged in the 1980s as a direct critique of suburban sprawl, proposing that neighborhoods be designed around walkability, mixed uses, and transit access. Its principles, codified in the Charter of the New Urbanism, call for neighborhoods where residents can accomplish daily tasks without a car, where housing types are mixed to accommodate different income levels, and where public spaces anchor community life. For US geography students, New Urbanism offers a design-based entry point into deeper questions about how built environments shape behavior, health outcomes, and social equity.

Smart growth extends New Urbanism's principles into regional planning, emphasizing infill development, preservation of agricultural land and natural areas, and investment in existing infrastructure rather than perpetual outward expansion. Many US cities and states have adopted smart growth policies, creating real case studies students can evaluate: Portland's urban growth boundary, Arlington's transit-oriented development along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and Denver's TOD districts near light rail stations.

Active learning is particularly powerful here because New Urbanism invites students to become designers. Applying its principles to a neighborhood plan they know produces richer understanding than reading about them, and comparing their designs against real examples grounds abstract principles in specific geographic contexts.

Key Questions

1. Explain what 'New Urbanism' is and how it differs from traditional suburban design.
2. Analyze the principles of smart growth and their application in urban planning.
3. Design a neighborhood plan incorporating New Urbanism principles.

Learning Objectives

• Compare and contrast the design principles of New Urbanism with those of traditional suburban development.
• Analyze the core tenets of smart growth and evaluate their effectiveness in specific urban planning case studies.
• Design a neighborhood plan that integrates New Urbanism principles, including walkability, mixed-use development, and transit-oriented design.
• Critique existing urban or suburban neighborhoods based on their adherence to or deviation from New Urbanism and smart growth concepts.

Before You Start

Types of Urban and Rural Land Use

Why: Students need to understand basic land use categories to analyze how New Urbanism and smart growth alter these patterns.

Factors Influencing Urban Growth

Why: Understanding historical drivers of urban development, like industrialization and suburbanization, provides context for the critique offered by New Urbanism.

Key Vocabulary

New Urbanism	An urban design movement that promotes walkable neighborhoods with a mix of housing types and businesses, aiming to reduce automobile dependence and foster community.
Smart Growth	A set of development principles that aims to create sustainable communities by concentrating growth in compact, walkable urban areas and preserving open space.
Sprawl	The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land, characterized by low-density development and automobile dependency.
Mixed-Use Development	Development that blends residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment uses, where those functions are physically and functionally integrated.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)	A type of community development that maximizes the amount of residential, business, and leisure space within walking distance of public transport.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

New Urbanism is just about making places look old-fashioned or nostalgic.

What to Teach Instead

New Urbanism is a planning philosophy based on the functional relationship between land use, street design, and transportation, not an architectural style. While some New Urbanist developments use traditional architectural elements, the core principles are about density, mixed use, walkability, and transit access. Contemporary New Urbanist projects can be modern in design while meeting the same functional criteria, as many transit-oriented developments demonstrate.

Common Misconception

Smart growth policies always make housing more expensive.

What to Teach Instead

The relationship between smart growth and housing costs is complex. Urban growth boundaries can restrict supply in the short term, contributing to price increases. However, transit-oriented development and infill policies can add housing supply in desirable locations and reduce transportation costs that affect household affordability. The net impact depends on how aggressively infill and missing middle housing are permitted alongside growth boundaries.

Active Learning Ideas

Design Workshop: Redesign a Suburban Strip

Students receive an aerial image of a typical suburban commercial strip in their region, showing auto-oriented retail, large surface parking lots, and minimal pedestrian infrastructure. Using New Urbanism principles as a checklist, they redesign the site on a planning grid: adding mixed-use buildings, bike lanes, transit stops, public plazas, and varied housing types. Groups present their redesigns and explain how each change serves a New Urbanist principle.

60 min·Small Groups

Case Study Comparison: Smart Growth in Practice

Pairs research one US city's smart growth policy (Portland's UGB, Arlington's Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, or Denver's transit TOD) using city planning documents and aerial imagery. They evaluate whether the policy has achieved its stated goals on three metrics: density increase, transit ridership, and housing affordability. Groups report findings and the class discusses which policies show the most promising results and why.

55 min·Pairs

Walkability Audit: Applying the 15-Minute City Test

Students select a neighborhood (their own or an assigned one) and map which daily destinations (grocery store, school, park, pharmacy, transit stop) are within a 15-minute walk of a residential point. They score the neighborhood on walkability, identify gaps, and propose one specific infrastructure change that would most improve the score. Results are compiled into a class walkability map of the local area.

45 min·Pairs

Real-World Connections

• Urban planners and architects in cities like Portland, Oregon, use smart growth principles to create urban growth boundaries, preserving farmland and directing development to existing infrastructure.
• Community developers are increasingly incorporating New Urbanism features, such as town squares and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, into new residential projects to attract residents seeking a walkable lifestyle.
• Transportation engineers analyze traffic patterns and public transit ridership data to inform decisions about where to implement transit-oriented development zones, like those found along light rail lines in Denver.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a list of five design features (e.g., large front lawns, segregated commercial zones, pedestrian paths, mixed housing types, dedicated bus lanes). Ask them to identify which three are characteristic of New Urbanism and explain why.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'How might the principles of New Urbanism and smart growth address issues of social equity in urban areas?' Facilitate a class discussion, prompting students to provide specific examples or counterarguments.

Quick Check

Show students two aerial images of different neighborhoods. Ask them to identify key differences in design, labeling features related to walkability, density, and mixed-use. Then, ask them to classify each neighborhood as more aligned with traditional suburban design or New Urbanism.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main principles of New Urbanism?

New Urbanism organizes its principles at three scales. At the neighborhood scale: walkable blocks, mixed housing types, a civic or commercial center within walking distance, and transit access. At the district scale: connected streets rather than cul-de-sacs, a range of uses within the district. At the regional scale: coordination of growth, preservation of agricultural and natural areas, and investment in transit corridors rather than highways alone. The Charter of the New Urbanism provides the full framework.

What is smart growth and how does it differ from New Urbanism?

Smart growth is a regional planning approach that directs development toward existing urban areas, preserves open space and agricultural land at the fringe, and prioritizes transit investment over highway expansion. New Urbanism provides the design principles for how individual neighborhoods and districts should be built; smart growth addresses where development should be directed at the metropolitan and regional scale. The two frameworks are complementary and often cited together in planning policy.

What are some real examples of New Urbanism in the United States?

Seaside, Florida was one of the first deliberately planned New Urbanist communities, built in the 1980s. Kentlands in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Celebration, Florida are other early examples. At the urban infill scale, transit-oriented developments around Washington DC's Metro stations along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington, Virginia are frequently cited as successful examples of applying New Urbanist density and mixed-use principles in a suburban context.

How does active learning help students apply New Urbanism principles?

New Urbanism principles are abstract until students try to apply them to a specific place. Redesigning a suburban strip, auditing a neighborhood's walkability, or evaluating a real city's smart growth outcomes forces students to make tradeoffs: Where does the transit stop go? What happens to existing parking? Who can afford the new housing? These design decisions, made collaboratively, build genuine understanding of why urban form matters for equity, sustainability, and daily life.