How projects are selected for New Urban News’ TND list

As defined by New Urban News, TNDs generally include an interconnected networks of streets and blocks, a clear neighborhood center (or centers, in the case of large projects), a mix of uses and housing types, a compact form, and pedestrian-oriented design with an emphasis on quality civic spaces. Projects that have some but not most of these elements are excluded from this list. Many projects — particularly very small ones — that follow new urbanist principles but do not have most of the above characteristics likewise are excluded. All of the projects listed are real, not theoretical demonstrations, and have a chance of being built if they are not already under construction. Projects judged to be dead are scratched. Projects on the list also may be called transit-oriented, neotraditional, or simply new urbanist developments. Transit-oriented developments, a term coined by Peter Calthorpe and Douglas Kelbaugh, usually include all of the basic elements of a TND (as described above) with the addition of mass transit. TND fits within the larger category of the New Urbanism, a broad movement encompassing many aspects of promoting human-scale development. The most visible product of the New Urbanism, TNDs are good indicators of the movement as a whole. If TNDs are growing, one can infer that municipal codes and com- prehensive plans that encourage new urbanist development also are increasing (and substantial evidence supports that inference). One can infer that small new urbanist infill projects are on the rise too, because the movement is gaining momentum. Finally, TNDs can be built anywhere — in cities, first ring suburbs, old towns, on the suburban fringe or in the countryside. In the city or attached to historic towns, they become new neighborhoods. Elsewhere, they often are new villages or towns. TNDs differ from modernist and suburban community planning in that they are more compact, better connected and have better public spaces.