new urbanism is a movement to restore any residential community of any size to its pre-car purity, but with a modern twist; the spacing is based on two key principles 1) easily and centrally located community space accessible to all, and 2) streets and layout systems that focus transit on bipedal, bicycle and public transit (primarilly underground rail systems, as buses require large streets).

on the top right is a shot of Prospect New Town, colorado, exemplifying 'aggregate and detached housing,' the combination of which increases population densities to the point where local, street level commercial space becomes sustainable and then- as a result- allows foot travel to and from, demoting the need for a heavy petro-fueled transit.

on the bottom right, we have a shot of Bo01, a similarly themed new development in Malmo, Sweden. in the case of bo01, the entire project was built to demonstrate sustainability in action, with effecient everything, is solar powered (pv and wind) and even has built in waste management systems that convert sewage into fuel.

the changes are happening now.

michael bruangart and william mcdonough, of 'cradle to cradle' fame, promote a notion that ray c anderson (ceo of interface, inc) backs, giving hope to those designers just coming of age:

the three R's stand for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. there should be a forth, enacted before all three-'Redesign.'