What is New Urbanism? Principles and Benefits Explained

Jaydean Boldt
Dec 18, 2025
11 min read

If you've walked through a European town, narrow streets lined with shops, sidewalk cafés where neighbours gather, parks within walking distance, buildings that frame streets rather than hide behind parking lots, you've experienced what New Urbanism seeks to recreate in North America.

New Urbanism is a design approach to creating human-scale, walkable, mixed-use communities that stand in deliberate contrast to conventional suburban development.

After 18 years of designing master planned communities using these principles across 87,000+ acres, I can tell you this isn't nostalgia or aesthetic preference, it's a proven strategy for creating developments that command premium prices while building places people genuinely love.

Here's what New Urbanism actually means, how it works in practice, and why it matters for your next development.

Street view with people walking between historic buildings. Trees line the street. Cars are parked on the road under a partly cloudy sky.

What is New Urbanism? The Core Definition

New Urbanism generally promotes walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods designed at the human scale as opposed to the scale of the Automobile. It emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as a response to the placelessness of suburban sprawl driven by car-dependent design and development patterns, and the subsequent erosion of community life in conventional subdivisions.

At its essence, New Urbanism argues that the design of places shapes how we live, and that there is a better way to design places that foster interaction between people and their neighbours.

The fundamental idea: Communities should be designed for people first, not cars. Streets should be safe and walkable for all ages. Neighborhoods should generally include a mix of uses and product typologies for a wider socio-economic segment and so daily needs are accessible without driving. Buildings should create public spaces, not just occupy private lots. Architecture should contribute to a cohesive whole, not stand in isolation.

This is how towns were built for centuries before the automobile. New Urbanism is essentially a modern re-invention of traditional town planning principles, adapted for contemporary life and markets.

At New Urban Design Group, we are committed to the creation of humanly scaled cities, towns, and neighbourhoods through our imaginative and integrative approach to town planning and land development. As the name already references, this commitment aligns directly with general New Urbanist principles while the focus of our firm is to build beautiful neighbourhoods, towns and cities regardless of location. Utilizing time tested principles of aesthetics and design we also integrate European urban design concepts where applicable that predate the movement.

The Charter of the New Urbanism

The movement is formalized in the Charter of New Urbanism, adopted in 1996 by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). The Charter outlines principles at three scales:

The Region: Metropolis, City, and TownTo guide metropolitan planning, directing growth into compact, walkable communities rather than dispersed sprawl.
The Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian-friendly, and mixed-use, with clear centers and edges.
The Block, the Street, and the BuildingStreets and buildings should define and enhance public space rather than prioritize private space and parking.

These are practical design guidelines that translate into measurable outcomes, both in how communities function and how they perform financially.

The Core Principles of New Urbanism

New Urbanism rests on several interconnected principles. Understanding these helps you recognize New Urbanist design and understand it strategically.

1. Walkability

Most things within a 10-minute walk of home and work. Pedestrian-friendly street design with buildings close to streets, porches and windows facing sidewalks, tree-lined streets, and on-street parking that calms traffic.

Why this matters: Walkability is about choice. When daily needs are accessible by foot, residents can walk, bike, or drive based on preference and circumstances. This flexibility increases quality of life and property values.

In conventional subdivisions, most trips require a vehicle because most basic amenities are not within walking distance. On the other hand, walkable neighborhoods, allow for approximately 30-40% of trips to be on foot, reducing household transportation costs, increasing social interaction, and creating the activity that makes streets feel alive. In short walkability, also creates healthier neighborhoods.

The financial impact: Homes in walkable neighborhoods command 20-30% premiums over comparable homes in car-dependent suburbs. Buyers pay for the option to walk, even if they drive most of the time.

2. Connectivity

An interconnected street network disperses traffic, promotes walkability and eases congestion. Incorporating a hierarchy of narrow streets, boulevards, and alleys further encourages walkability by including enjoyable High-quality pedestrian networks and eases traffic congestion.

Contrast with conventional development (CSD): Suburban subdivisions typically feature discontinuous street patterns: cul-de-sacs feeding into collectors feeding into arterials. This forces all traffic onto a few roads, eliminates alternate routes, and makes walking dangerous and circuitous.

New Urbanist street networks generally are interconnected providing multiple routes between destinations. This distributes traffic, reduces congestion, and supports walkability.

We believe streets should respond to topography and context rather than follow rigid engineering standards. On a 450-acre hillside project, we designed a modified street network that followed natural contours while maintaining connectivity. The result: reduced grading costs, preserved view corridors, and improved walkability compared to a forced grid pattern.

3. Mixed-Use and diversity of product types.

Great neighbourhoods are generally characterized by having a mix of shops, offices, apartments, townhomes, and single family homes. Mixed-uses strategically located within the neighbourhood and block, further allows for a variety of product typologies that appeal to different market segments, income levels, cultures and even different ethnic backgrounds.

What this looks like in practice: Ground-floor retail with residential above. Coffee shops and corner stores within neighbourhoods, not just in strip malls. Live-work units and Secondary suites are carefully integrated into residential areas so as not to disturb the character of the block. This mixing creates the activity and variety that so many typical suburban subdivisions lack.

It should be noted, that depending on local market conditions and building codes. Mixed Use can be challenging: Financing, phasing, zoning, and operational complexity make mixed-use harder than single-use development. Residential and commercial operate on different timelines and require different expertise, and in some cases mixing uses may simply not be feasible. However, many municipalities have become more open to the idea of integrating Mixed Use into new residential development master plans.

The residential above benefits from walkable amenities below. The retail benefits from built-in customers above. Both benefit from the activity and character that mixing creates.

4. Mixed Housing Types

The traditional pattern: Neighbourhoods historically included varied housing types. Large homes on prominent corners and towards the edge of the neighbourhood, townhouses closer to the centre, and apartments above shops located at the centre. Looking back at the way european small towns were planned decades ago…small cottages and carriage houses can be located along alleys. This diversity accommodated different household sizes, ages, and incomes within one community.

The suburban deviation: Post-war suburbanization separated housing types into homogeneous single use pods. These fragmented Single-family subdivisions here often locate apartment complexes clustered together at random locations, just like townhomes being located along certain streets or in “Condo” style developments. Shopping centres are car centric and typically revolve around large parking lots as opposed to being located along “main streets”. This separation of uses only increases driving, and eliminates character.

New Urbanist approach: Integrate housing types within neighbourhoods through careful design. Transitions matter. You don't place six-story apartments directly next to single-family cottages. But you can create gradual transitions: single-family on larger lots, single-family on smaller lots, townhouses, low-rise multi-family, then taller buildings near mixed-use centers.

This mixing creates housing options for different life stages. Young singles rent apartments, young families buy townhouses, growing families move to single-family homes, empty nesters downsize to condos, all within the same neighbourhood. This lifecycle housing supports community stability and diversity.

5. Beautiful Architecture and Urban Design

Emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, personal comfort, safety all work together to creating a sense of place. The placement of civic uses and sites within the community at key locations and terminated vistas also work toward building civic pride. Well thought out Urban Design ensures the public realm uses Human-scale both in landscape design, context as well as in relation to the buildings framing the spaces in between.

What this means practically:

Buildings should be designed in context with their surroundings, not as isolated objects but as contributors to the public realm. We see each building as a "Building in Context." We believe buildings have a distinct hierarchy and, if placed together, are compatible in size, architectural language, and siting.
Architecture should employ traditional principles; proportion, scale, materials, and details that have proven to be beautiful and are timeless. Understanding why certain proportions, relationships, and details create beauty and applying those principles in contemporary ways is important.
Civic buildings (town halls, libraries, schools, churches) should occupy prominent sites and employ classical proportioning and architecture that signals their importance. A community center hidden behind parking lacks the presence it deserves, moreover a stately stone facade building will have much more presence than a modernist glass block.

We take great care in the design for each building. For larger developments, we also design and manage the architectural guidelines for each project and work with a variety of architects and production firms to ensure a cohesive outcome.

6. Traditional Neighborhood Structure

Discernible center and edge. A hierarchy of Public spaces, a wide range of uses and densities all within a 10-15 minute walk.

The center: Successful neighborhoods have identifiable centers; a square, a main street, a park, or a civic building that serves as the heart and gathering place. The center is where you're most likely to encounter neighbours, where community events happen, where mixed-use concentrates.

The edge: Neighborhoods should have defined edges; major streets, natural features, or parks that clearly delineate one neighborhood from the next. Edges provide identity and provides the visitor with an understandable logic as to when they are “leaving town” so to speak.

The transect: The urban-to-rural transect is a planning tool that organizes zones from most urban (downtown, main street) through various suburban conditions to rural and natural. Each zone has appropriate building types, street designs, and densities. This prevents the visual chaos found in typical suburban developments where large collector roads and arterials abut single-family homes.

7. Increased Density

More buildings, residences, shops, and services closer together for ease of walking, to enable a more efficient use of services and resources, and to create a more convenient and enjoyable place to live for those wishing to live in a more “urban” place.

Density is perhaps the most misunderstood principle. Many hear "density" and imagine crowded high-rises in a typical suburban setting. Moreover, some Municipalities completely misunderstand the concept of density also. They are forcing densification into existing traditional single family neighbourhoods and destroying the fabric of the neighbourhood. We are firm believers in the concept of variety of housing typologies within the neighbourhood, but not at the expense of destroying them. Density is not only about efficiencies, its about carefully considering the context and ensuring it works as part of a cohesive whole. We also understand and appreciate that not everyone wants to live in a high density neighbourhood, but most people want some level of interconnection towards building efficiency and walkability.

Consider: A conventional suburban subdivision might achieve 2-4 units per acre with large lots and wide streets. A New Urbanist neighborhood might achieve 8-12 units per acre through smaller lots, narrower streets, varied housing types, and efficient layout, all while feeling more spacious because of quality public spaces and preserved natural areas.

The key is where you put density. Concentrate it near centers and transit. Graduate it toward edges. Design public spaces well so increased density feels like vibrancy, not crowding.

The financial logic: Higher density spreads infrastructure costs over more units, reducing per-unit costs. It supports walkable retail by providing a customer base. It makes transit viable. And thoughtfully designed density commands premium pricing because of the walkable amenity and sense of place it enables.

8. Smart Transportation

A network of high-quality trains connecting cities, towns, and neighborhoods. Pedestrian-friendly design that encourages walking and reduces the need for driving. Transit-oriented development concentrating mixed-use around transit stations.

In North American contexts where transit doesn't exist, the principle adapts: design street networks that support multiple modes (walking, biking, driving) rather than optimizing only for cars.

Street design matters enormously. Narrower streets calm traffic naturally. Tree-lined streets encourage walking. Interconnected networks distribute traffic. On-street parking buffers pedestrians from moving vehicles. These design choices shape behavior.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) applies New Urbanist principles at transit stations: concentrating mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods where transit access allowing for optional car-free living while still providing adequate residential parking within each development site. Even without existing transit, designing for future transit positions communities advantageously.

9. Sustainability

Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations. Energy-efficient technologies and respect for ecology and natural features. Compact, walkable design reduces auto use and energy consumption.

New Urbanism and sustainability are deeply connected:

Reduced driving: Walkable neighbourhoods reduce vehicle miles traveled by 20-40%, cutting emissions and energy use substantially.
Efficient land use: Compact development consumes less land, preserves more open space and agricultural land, and reduces infrastructure per capita.
Reduced infrastructure: narrower streets, the need for less public parking areas, and shared facilities reduce material consumption and construction impact.
Preservation of natural systems: By concentrating development, more natural areas remain undisturbed. Working with topography reduces grading and erosion.
Enduring value: Buildings and neighbourhoods designed for permanence generate less waste through demolition and rebuilding.

We believe in sustainable development principles and make every effort to utilize existing topography where possible, which often results in a development with more character and charm. This approach aligns sustainability with quality and profitability.

10. Quality of Life

Taken together, these principles result in higher quality of life, more walkable and connected communities, stronger sense of place and community, increased social interaction, improved public health, reduced transportation costs, and increased property values.

This isn't theoretical. Residents in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods report higher satisfaction, more social connections, better health outcomes, and lower stress than residents in conventional suburbs, while their properties appreciate faster.

Implementing New Urbanism: Practical Considerations

If you're considering New Urbanism for your land development, here's what you need to know:

Start with Market Research: Validate demand for walkable, mixed-use development in your specific market. New Urbanism works broadly, but local market conditions, price points, and buyer preferences vary. Depending on project size and scope, we work with market research firms to confidently assess viability and provide insight into latent opportunities.
Engage Municipal Planners Early: Bring planning staff into the design process through pre-application meetings and charrettes. New Urbanist projects often require variances or zoning changes, early engagement builds support and streamlines approvals.
Invest in Quality Design: New Urbanism requires more design investment than conventional development. Budget appropriately for master planning, architectural guidelines, landscape design, and public space detail. This investment generates exponential returns when it comes to time to sell by increased property values.
Establish Strong Architectural Guidelines: Without enforceable guidelines, the aesthetic vision erodes during buildout as individual builders pursue standard products. Strong guidelines with review processes protect character and cohesion.
Plan for Phasing Carefully: Each phase should ideally feel somewhat complete at each phase. Don't promise mixed-use or civic spaces that won't deliver for years. Early phases should showcase your vision and establish pricing.
Consider Hiring "Keepers of the Plan": Maintaining New Urbanist vision from conception through buildout requires dedicated oversight. Someone must protect design integrity, coordinate consultants, review architectural submissions, and ensure the built outcome matches the master plan intent.

This service is particularly valuable for out-of-town and international clients who can't provide daily oversight. While our full land development management services are primarily focused within the Alberta context, our vision-driven oversight guides projects regardless of location.

Creating Places That Last

With over 87,000+ acres of master planned projects across North America, Caribbean, and Europe, we take great pride in embracing local typologies while continually innovating. Our focus on Context, Beauty, Function, and Stewardship ensures every project delivers beauty, profitability, and lasting value.

If you do it right, it will last forever, and New Urban Design Group uses time-tested principles for doing it right.

Ready to Explore New Urbanist Design for Your Project?

Whether you're planning a traditional neighborhood development, a mixed-use infill project, or seeking to enhance conventional development with New Urbanist principles, we bring decades of experience creating communities that are both beautiful and highly profitable.

Our European-trained design team combines Old World urbanism while delivering design expertise and principles that are applicable around the world. We deliver projects that command premium prices while creating places that endure regardless of location.