New Urbanism moves toward ‘low-impact’ infrastructure

New Urban News Article with images, 12/1/2006

Natural drainage systems and other ecologically advanced technologies are coming to walkable communities.

A new urbanist-led charrette in November recommended that New Orleans be redeveloped with “natural drainage systems” — techniques allowing stormwater to soak into the ground rather than be piped, sometimes full of pollutants, to bodies of water like Lake Pontchartrain.

The recommendation, intended for the Gentilly section of the flood-ravaged city, is a sign of new urbanists’ emerging interest in engineering and landscape systems based on processes found in nature.

In recent years, environmental activists have argued that rain should be handled in a more natural fashion — through “rain gardens,” bioswales, and other ecological features — instead of relying heavily on underground pipes and other conventional engineering mechanisms. A growing number of new urbanists are moving toward this ecological approach.