CNU XI highlights policy, principles, and participatory planning

The Eleventh Congress for the New Urbanism to be packed with innovative debates, new publications, and spirited conversations. For the first time, CNU is holding a formal parliamentary member debate on the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism. The debate, Sunday June 22, at CNU XI, is designed to clarify the meanings of Principles 1 and 4 of the Charter, about patterns of regional growth. Principle 1 reads, “Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries … . The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are cities, towns, and villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges.” Principle 4 says, “Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. … Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage such infill development over peripheral expansion.” Since the Charter was ratified and signed by the participants of CNU IV in Charleston, its 27 principles have been treated as CNU’s mission statement. At the middle and small scales — neighborhood, district, and corridor, and block, street, and building — discussions have been about relatively minor details, such as whether any houses should be allowed to have garages facing a street. However, movement leaders have very different interpretations of the principles at the regional scale. These differences have surfaced in occasional acrimonious discussions about urban growth boundaries and Smart Growth policies that favor infill development. With CNU poised to create regional chapters (see New Urban News, December 2002), it is more important than ever for members to take part in creating a unified position on these issues. CNU leaders Peter Calthorpe, Jonathan Barnett, and Andres Duany are writing position papers at press time; they are to be released on CNU.org by the end of May. These papers will serve as background material for the debate. Federal Policy: Friend or Foe? An important session at CNU XI will cover federal policy. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Geoff Anderson will moderate this session full of heavyweights. Invited speakers include top public officials and advocates. From the Hill, CNU hopes to have Congressman Earl Blumenauer; Jeff Brown of Senator Jim Jeffords’ office; Al Trevino, Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and Emil Frankel of the US Department of Transportation. Speakers from the Beltway’s advocacy ghetto should include Bruce Katz of the Brookings Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy; Smart Growth America leader Don Chen; Julia Seward of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Anne Canby of the Surface Transportation Policy Project; and Hank Dittmar of Reconnecting America. Some of the issues to be discussed will include federal policies on transportation, housing, and other domestic policies. The big question: Are there national policies that need to change to make New Urbanism into business as usual? Codes Monographs to be Rolled Out Also at CNU XI, CNU members will release drafts of the first three in a series of monographs on reforming land development regulations. Member Scott Polikov has organized the monograph series, and CNU is currently seeking funding to publish it. “We get many calls from people who want to know how to regulate for mixed use,” says CNU Director of Research Ellen Greenberg. “No one knows who to turn to for the definitive answers. These monographs will distribute focused technical information to both members and nonmembers.” The first monographs are a case study of a new form-based code for Columbia Pike in Arlington, Virginia, a technical piece by Thomas Dolan on the techniques of live-work development, and an article by Polikov and Dan Slone on the politics of changing zoning codes. The goal of the monograph series is to give practitioners detailed answers about the multitude of tiny issues that arise in reforming land development regulations.