New Urbanism in America and China | CD Voice

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Do you remember the town in the movie The Truman Show? In reality, it's the small, planned town of Seaside, Florida. It's representative of a movement among architects and city planners called "new urbanism".

Until the 1950s, America's small towns and cities were known for their convenience and comfort. People could walk to school, or stores, or work. Downtown shopping areas were vibrant with customers.  

Most people did not own a car, but the walkability of the cities combined with the easy availability of trains and buses meant that most people did not need to go to the trouble and expense of depending on a car.  

In the bigger cities like Los Angeles or Washington, extensive trolley systems allowed people to get around.

I looked at a 1915 railroad schedule for my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, which at that time was a very small town of less than 20,000 people.  

Eighty seven passenger trains each day stopped at the Clarksville station.  

After World War II, we destroyed that great railroad system.

The classic towns that survive — Alexandria, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Annapolis, Maryland — are so attractive that tourists flock just to see them.  

Isn't it ironic that people have to go on vacation just so that they can have a walk around town?

New urbanist architects asked the seemingly obvious question: If America's small towns of a hundred years ago were so nice, why don't we just copy them? Why do we keep building ugly, inconvenient suburbs when we know how to do better?

The new urbanists have had some success.  

In addition to Seaside, Kentlands, Maryland, north of Washington is a great community where everyone can safely walk to schools, stores, or churches. In the UK, the town of Poundbury, which was championed by Prince Charles, has had similar success.  

Typically, homes in these New Urbanist communities sell for more than those in adjacent conventional suburbs.  

Doubtless, these relatively small New Urbanist enclaves are great places to live, but their populations are too small to support many businesses and jobs. Almost all their inhabitants have to drive to work in a nearby big city.

I recently visited my wife's hometown, of Yuxi, Yunnan province. It's a rather small city about 90 kilometers south of Kunming, with about 300,000 people living in a core city area of about 15 square kilometers.  

Walking around Yuxi, I saw the dream city of the new urbanists. The streets were always full of people who were going to the small retail stores and to the many parks.  

Especially in South China, many other small and medium-sized cities have that same pleasant, active atmosphere. For example, walking around shopping districts in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, reminded me very much of American small towns before they were destroyed by malls and interstate highways.

China's small cities are denser than any true US towns or new urbanists towns. High residential buildings and surrounding agricultural land ensure that there are enough people so that stores have customers and companies have workers.

New urbanists emphasize using traditional architectural forms, but the small storefronts in China make the streets livelier.

Of course, many people want to move to giant cities for career opportunities. 

But, the small cities of China offer a pleasant lifestyle and are an attractive model for city planners around the world. More emphasis should be placed on ensuring they continue to thrive.

About the author & broadcaster

David Blair writes for the international weekly editions of China Daily.

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