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SEASIDE
NEW URBANISM
SEASIDE
FLORIDA
USA
NEW URBANISM
New Urbanism is an urban planning movement that began in the United States in the early 1980s. This idea was made against urban sprawl. The goals of New Urbanism are to reduce dependence on cars, and to establish pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods with a densely packed array of mixed-use area including housing and commercial sites. Seaside is the first New Urbanist town in the US.
urban sprawl* - refers to the rapid growth of urban developments near cities, likely to neglect urban planning.
Figure 1: Urban Master Plan of Seaside
SEASIDE
The plan for the town of Seaside began in 1978 after Robert Davis was gifted an 80 acre plot of land in the Florida Panhandle. Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Robert and his wife Daryl set out to build a "livable" resort town in the "Redneck Riviera" and create a haven for those who missed the communities that were developed when cars were not the dominant form of transportation. Enter Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, a lauded husband and wife team from the prestigious architectural firm Arquitectonica. The four of them, along with European classicist and town planner Léon Krier, set out to design the kind of place that had been overlooked in contemporary American town planning. Intended to be the kind of community we all wish we could be from. The final plan was completed in 1985.
Robert Davis* - The founder of Seaside Florida.
Figure 2: Diagram of typical layout
SEASIDE
BUILDING CODE
Three prominent struggles with Seaside being a New Urbanist Town are;
1. The density leads to a lack of privacy, residents of Seaside are having fences to separate their private spaces from public paths. However, these housing with fences do not look like opened and interactive.
2.New Urbanist towns are inauthentic and isolated because they do not represent the “norm” of settlement patterns in the U.S. From the public eye it becomes idealistic and might form unhealthy perceptions.
3.New Urbanist neighbourhoods may not attract diverse people but just white residents.
Robert Davis* - The founder of Seaside Florida.
Figure 3: Fences separating private and public spaces.
Figure 4: Fences have access but look closed off.
Bibliography
Figure references:
Figure 2: https://seaside.library.nd.edu/essays/the-plan
Figure 3 & 4: ?
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References:
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