The New Urbanism

Beginning in the late 19th century, the second industrial revolution irreversibly affected urban planning and the townscape starting with major industrial cities. Cities changed the way they functioned in order to adapt to the new requirements set by the revolution. There were several ways in which this rapid change affected urbanism, starting from the rapid growth of population, housing near working sites of factories, poor conditions of constructions and areas of high density of buildings. This effect can be described as rapid urbanization, which ultimately gave rise to suburbs and the decline of the inner city, which in turn became linear and polycentric (Roberts, 2015).

Nevertheless, until the beginning of the 20th century cities were

Before the charter or new urbanism itself was established, the paper will give an instance of the vital contribution several architects gave to this movement, by protesting the status-quo of urban planning of the time.

An important planner is Jan Gehl, who endorsed a view of how urbanism should be which would inspire and later contribute to the founding of the movement. In his book, Cities for People, Gehl emphasizes the four human matters that he deems crucial for a successful city planning. Gehl describes the development of cities that exhibit the listed qualities: Lively, Safe, Sustainable, and Healthy. Considering these aspects, he thinks, even of the biggest metropolitan area, on the smallest scale (Gehl, 1987). According to Gehl, urban landscape is to be assessed by using the five human senses, and experienced by walking the distances of the city, instead of by riding with automobiles through it (Gehl,

But, that it is an important step in sustaining economic issues, community stability and environmental health in a cohesive and supportive agenda. New Urbanist principles are divided in three groups based social goals: the community, social equity, and the notion of the common good, and they are 27 principles in number. Eight of them relate to equity, and 19 with the concept of common good. For the community goals, there are no explicitly stated principles, but community related notions are used as illustrative examples of these principles.

The first nine principles are related to the concept of region, associated with the metropolis, city or town. They first define the notion of metropolitan region, and then describe the appropriate approach to the organization of the region and its relationship with other factors, and emerging issues. These principles emphasize the importance of the maintenance of the polycentric metropolis in the socio economical spectrum, and especially focus on the correct handling of new developments in the area. They advocate for alternative transport options, sharing resources and revenues, and distributed housing in order to prevent concentrated poverty