Description: This book reviews the recent resurgence of town and urban design in America, with particular attention to the return to traditional forms of urbanism and building conventions, beginning with the seminal town of Seaside (Florida). The movement known as New Urbanism began as a critique of post-war urban planning (single-use zoning, auto-dominated environments, sprawl) and has emerged as an influential body of architects, urban planners, engineers and politicians, whose work has the potential to dramatically reshape our built environment.

It represents an attempt to restructure urban growth into cohesive designs balancing building, open space, infrastructure, landscape and transportation. In reaction to modern sprawl they envision dense, mixed-use neighborhoods with vibrant pedestrian activity and civic and open space amenities. Much of the architectural designs are based on local buildings types and attempt to respect the local ecological conditions.

The book is a critical review of American urbanism after Seaside, the seminal new town in Florida. The volume analyses the planning and the realization of Seaside in Florida (the new residential settlement celebrated in the movie The Truman Show), documents the new city of Celebration being built for the Walt Disney Company in Florida and several other projects by Peter Callthorpe in Florida. Seven highly-illustrated chapters address fundamental issues such as: what is sprawl and how does it relate to suburban form, how town-planning principles can address issues of sprawl, how design can help ameliorate the impact of the automobile, methods and examples of restructuring existing suburbs and cities.

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