The alley offset

New Urban News Technical Page by Andres Duany, Michael Morrissey, and Patrick Pinnell

The last two decades have witnessed a heartening revival of traditional planning techniques. Element after element, the components of walkable, mixed-use, civically conscious environments have been restudied, redeployed into use, and gradually have gained widespread acceptance on the part of the public and even of non-new urbanist professionals.

But the restoration to legitimacy of traditional planning elements has proven not to be a static situation. Every traditional element is subject to the changing pressures of its contemporary context. Consequently the shape, size, relative location, and appropriate character of elements must constantly be restudied. That is the cultural and technical paradox at the heart of New Urbanism; tradition must be continually reset in order for it to serve its original purpose.