Reading List

Recommended reading for both general background and specific techniques of New Urbanism. Please order them at your local bookstore.

PERIODICALS

New Urban News
www.newurbannews.com

New Urban Living
www.newurbliving.com

The Town Paper
www.tndtownpaper.com

BOOKS

Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism
You can read it here: CNU Charter
by the Congress for New Urbanism (www.CNU.org)

Geography of Nowhere, The City in Mind, and The Long Emergency
James Howard Kunstler, with his incredibly engaging, humorous, and often inflammatory writing, is one of the most well-known voices of the New Urbanism. Geography of Nowhere derides the current state of our communities, The City in Mind spends a chapter each on the relationship between eight world cities’ past and present (including Boston), and The Long Emergency is a wake-up call regarding oil production and the need for compact communities and local economies. www.kunstler.com

Suburban Nation
by Andres Duany, et. al.
An engaging and convincing introduction to the New Urbanism. For those looking for a place to start, read Suburban Nation and Geography of Nowhere first.

Global City Blues
by Dan Solomon
A collection of essays about the community building aspects of New Urbanist design. Global City Blues is one of my favorite New Urbanist books. With insightful observations and anecdotes revolving around experiences with his San Francisco based architecture firm, Dan Solomon communicates how compact, pedestrian oriented community design benefits communities by encouraging interaction and enhancing quality of experience.

New Civic Art
by Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Robert Alminana
An ambitious collection of urban planning and town design plans patterned after The American Vitruvius: An Architect’s Handbook of Civic Art (1922). The New Civic Art contains over 1000 entries with 1200 illustrations with commentary by the authors. Another must-read.

Death and Life of Great American Cities
by Jane Jacobs
A classic about the lifecycle of cities. Published in 1961, the down to earth observations in Jacob’s must-read book are especially prescient to New Urbanists. “Perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning…a work of literature.” –NY Times Book Review

A Timeless Way of Building (Volume 1)
by Christopher Alexander
“The Timeless Way of Building presents a new theory of architecture, building, and planning which forms the basis for a new traditional post-industrial architecture.” - from book jacket

A Pattern Language (Volume 2)
by Christopher Alexander
A Pattern Language, when read together with Volume 1, The Timeless Way of Building, outlines an example systematic, cross-referenced design language. In The Oregon Experiment, Alexander tests his language out.

The Tipping Point
by Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point took the US by storm last year. Using examples such as crime in New York City, Sesame Street, and product marketing, Gladwell theorizes how ideas, products, and movements gain traction in society.

The Next American Metropolis
by Peter Calthorpe

The Wealth of Cities
by John Norquist

Urban Design Handbook
by Ray Gindroz, et. al.
The Urban Design Handbook outlines Urban Design Associates’ approach to urban design projects, highlighting promotion of extensive community involvement in the design process.

Streets
by Michael Southworth & Eran Ben-Joseph
Traces the history of street design and layout and suggests alternatives that are less rigidly controlled, more flexible, and responsive to local conditions.

Great Streets
by Allan Jacobs

Designs on the Land
by Alex Maclean et. al.
Alan Maclean’s aerial photographs are artistic combinations of spatial relationships, color, and social commentary.

New Urbanism: Comprehensive Report & Best Practices Guide
by Robert Steutville & Philip Langdon
An encyclopedic reference manual of all things New Urbanism.

The High Cost of Free Parking
by Donald Shoup
In The High Cost of Free Parking, Donald Shoup describes how “free” parking is actually far from free, and outlines parking strategies that encourage community revitalization.

This list was compiled by Jonathan Ford