Authenticity seems impossible today, with places and buildings that look like they could be anywhere, lacking harmony with nature and local culture. But designers can achieve authenticity through effective principles, and a dozen of them are listed here.

Of the four types of recovery facing America cities and towns—disaster, sprawl, disinvestment, and the recovery of community for those fleeing climate change—the recovery of places from serious disinvestment arguably gets the least amount of press...