Sustainability, the environment, and New Urbanism: An assessment and agenda for research

As a movement in the fields of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture, New Urbanism represents an ideal subject for investigating sustainability and the built environment. While New Urbanism has seen its share of commentary and analysis from both supporters and detractors, thus far there has been no comprehensive effort to examine the movement contributions to a sustainable future. This paper focuses specifically on the links between sustainability, the environment, and New Urbanist design. Although sustainability is a balance among economic, social, and environmental concerns, an emphasis on its environmental aspects serves as a first step in understanding this critical area. There are three main sections of the paper in which we (1) synthesize the literature pertaining to environmental sustainability and the built environment, (2) examine the nexus between New Urbanism and sustainability/environmental concerns, and (3) describe and illustrate the use of a framework for evaluating the environmental impacts of the built environment across various scales.