The Charter reexamined and reaffirmed

Discussion at CNU XIV’s closing session affirms membership’s respect for the Charter After a one-year hiatus, the subject of supplementing the Charter of the New Urbanism was back on the program at the Congress in Providence. At Sunday’s closing plenary session, the assembled membership considered three amendments on housing affordability, codes, and the Transect. While the Sunday audience was down from its Saturday peak since some of those with long flights home had already departed, the spirited discussion helped clarify the membership’s views on the Charter: Although affordable housing, codes, and the Transect are topics of increasing importance on which the Charter could be strengthened, members generally view the Charter as a powerful and unifying expression of core principles and they want potential changes handled with care. A consensus emerged that members were not ready to approve new amendments without more discussion and a larger share of the membership in attendance. In building on the discussion at the closing plenary, the CNU board will now consider new ways to guide the continuing examination of the Charter. As part of that process, members should view the proposed amendments as presented in Providence and comment on them at the following website, www.cnu.org/go/charteramendments. The proposed amendments to the Charter of the New Urbanism: Affordability The ability to live in a well-designed walkable neighborhood should be within reach of all people, regardless of social or economic status. Affordability is dependent on many factors, including location within a region, neighborhood structure, access to jobs and services, and housing mix and tenure. Policy intervention from the public sector, incentives for the private sector, the elimination of exclusionary regulatory barriers, and participatory planning and design will substantially increase the supply, diversity, and quality of housing and enable new development that welcomes a diverse mix of people. Transect The rural-to-urban Transect is an essential tool for describing and coordinating the human habitat. It establishes appropriate relationships between buildings, streets, and public spaces and their natural contexts across the full range of urban settlement — from undisturbed nature to the most intensely urban places. The Transect must be calibrated to reflect local climate, ecology, tradition, and building practice. Codes Conventional use-based zoning should be replaced by design codes that guide the creation of an enduring form for cities and towns. Such codes must promote a mix of uses, diversity of street and housing types, and address appropriate forms of development at all scales.