The New Suburbanism: A Realist's Guide to the American Future
Type: Publications and Reports , Topics: Land Use and Design
Projections for expansion of the built environment—estimated to grow 50 percent by 2030—will be in the suburbs and exurbs. The key challenge facing developers, builders, planners and public officials, will be how to accommodate this growth. Kotkin argues this can best be done by crafting ways to make suburbs work in a better, more efficient and humane way. This is the essence of what he defines as “New Suburbanism” – a practical and beneficial way to address fundamental issues facing suburbia and support the nurturing and development of semi-autonomous villages throughout the expanding periphery. In promoting the village concept, Kotkin shares some common objectives with the new urbanists, notably the importance of public and open spaces as well as cultivating community, yet adopts a more flexible and practical design and policy agenda that can be effectively implemented in suburban communities.
Available: http://www.joelkotkin.com/Urban_Affairs/The%20New%20Suburbanism.pdf
