Producing diversity in a new urbanism community: Policy and practice

Is there diversity in the New Urbanism? Analyzing the demographic characteristics of New Urbanist neighborhoods in the United States

“…Corroborating this work, Talen (2010, p. 495) examined the price of the least expensive unit available for purchase in 152 different NU neighborhoods built without public subsidies or inclusionary zoning requirements and concluded, "the vast majority of New Urbanist projects are not within reach of middle and low-income families." These findings are also mirrored in other studies, which show the difficulty in and/or disinterest with including affordable housing in NU projects (Audirac & Shermyen, 1994;Day, 2003;Grant & Perrot, 2009;Hayden, 2003;Knox, 2008;Podobnik, 2011).…”

“…Many of these studies find a single racial group predominantly inhabits NU neighborhoods, whether it is White (Brown & Cropper, 2001;Cabrera & Najarian, 2013;Podobnik, 2011) or Black residents (Chaskin & Joseph, 2011;Deitrick & Ellis, 2004). Some NU developments do attract a mix of racialized groups (Grant & Perrot, 2009;Kleit, 2005), although scholars remain skeptical about whether such arrangements will endure over time (Day, 2003) or foster 4 D. Trudeau and J. Kaplan interaction across different groups (Cabrera & Najarian, 2013;Clarke, 2005;Larsen, 2005). Such skepticism is especially acute among observers of HOPE VI projects who see these as places that host a great deal of income diversity, but have failed to generate positive interaction across class and racial divisions (Chaskin & Joseph, 2011Fraser et al, 2013;Khare, Joseph, & Chaskin, 2015;Kim, in press;Kleit, 2005).…”

“…Caveats and questions haunt each of these frames (Talen, 2008a), and Fainstein (2005) suggests that many of the positive dimensions of diversity are contingent on other factors. Nonetheless, promoting social diversity has come to be an important and desirable objective in urban planning and policy practice (Fainstein, 2005;2 D. Trudeau and J. Kaplan Grant & Perrot, 2009) and NU has been positioned as a vehicle for realizing such aims.…”

‘Land-use mixité’: Evaluating urban hierarchy and the urban-to-rural gradient with an evenness-based approach

“…As a result of complex dynamics, entropy and diversification are increasingly considered as key elements of urban growth (Kingsley and Enders, 1975;Page et al, 2001;Salvati et al, 2016a,b). Taken as a response to rapid economic development, socio-spatial changes and neoliberal planning, diversity in the use of urban land -possibly reflected in a higher variety in the composition of the economic base -is seen as a typical feature of central cities (Quigley, 1998;Hanson, 2001;Rosenthal and Strange, 2001;Grant and Perrott, 2009; but see also Ejermo, 2005). This assumption is corroborated by empirical evidences world-wide (e.g.…”

“…The use of entropy-based indicators of urban centrality supports investigation in the field of local development and may improve decision systems classifying urban and rural areas with implications for regional planning and policy strategies (Grant and Perrott, 2009;Stanley, 2012;Cabral et al, 2013). According to Talen (2005), "land use zoning is one of the most potent tools planners have to enact change in human settlement patterns, and the goal of that change is often to foster greater levels of socioeconomic and land use diversity".…”