True Urbanism

Author: Mark L. Hinshaw (Planners Press, 2007)

As suburbs grew in popularity in the second half of last century, many North American cities became neglected. A lot of people preferred the idea of having a large house on their own piece of land in a quiet community instead of living in a small apartment in the loud, dirty city. In True Urbanism, Mark Hinshaw argues that we are seeing a rebirth in our cities and that more and more people are appreciating the benefits of living in areas with higher density.

Hinshaw shows us one example after another of successful urban planning where local businesses flourish, the streets are full of pedestrians and green spaces are teeming with happy children. He sees a few elements that are necessary to have a thriving city such as large sidewalks, mixed-use buildings and large public spaces that encourage people to come together either for a specific event or just to sit and chat with friends.

There is a brief, but interesting, look at why cities lost their appeal after the Second World War. Cities were seen as noisy, full of crime and offered no real sense of community. The suburbs that were springing up all across North America offered something different - more space, a quiet neighbourhood and, thanks to the car, were still close to shops, schools and other amenities.

Hinshaw explains several reasons for this including a lack of creativity on the part of city planners and ineffective zoning regulations. Over the past couple decades, Hinshaw sees great strides have been made in cities such as Portland and Seattle as well as less obvious places including Denver and Springfield, Missouri.

Vancouver - the only Canadian city mentioned in this book - is praised a few times for its dense neighbourhoods and efforts to make walking and cycling a real option for getting around. Living here in Vancouver there are many who would argue that most of our development schemes are not successful in terms of building a real sense of neighbourhood and creating attractive public spaces. Hinshaw paints such a rosy picture of the communities he describes that he makes every city or town he examines sound like a utopian society, which I think really damages his arguement.

The whole point of the book seems to be to convince people to leave the suburbs behind and return to the thriving city. He feels we will all be happier and healthier. I agree with him and I enjoy living in the densely packed neighbourhood of Commercial Drive, but although I can see lots of great reasons to live here - close to transit, parks and green spaces are nearby and plenty of shops and restaurants in short walking distance - I know many people I talk to are not so keen on the area because they think it’s too noisy, too dirty or get a bit weirded out when they see a drug deal happening out in the open. I definitely don’t think the Drive is right for everyone, and I also understand that denser neighbourhoods in general aren’t for everyone. Hinshaw seems to believe that if people just put behind their negative stereotypes of what city life is like that they would see the ‘real’ city - full of life, full of diversity and the best place to be whether you’re young or old, single or married with children.

Again, I agree with him, but I would never be so arrogant as to assume that what is right for me is right for everyone. Many of my friends, family and people I work with simply don’t enjoy city living no matter how many beautiful parks, bike routes or trendy shops there are. We have to appreciate that some people would trade all of that in for a big house on their own piece of land. Although I love to be walking down a busy main street packed with people I can appreciate that others prefer the peace and quiet of a more rural landscape. That will be the challenge for planners to create sustainable communities where density is lower. Many of the same elements of a successful dowtown can be applied to a rural setting. Instead of huge strip malls that one has to drive to as the only option for getting groceries, we could make better planning choices by having smaller pockets of local businesses within walking or biking distance even if you’re living in your own detached home. Of course this already exists in many places, but suburbia suffers as much as cities do when homes are are built too far away from large shopping destinations. As smug as we city dwellers are, there are still many of us who hop in the car and drive an even bigger distance than people in the suburbs when we need to get to our favourite big box retailer.

I suppose Hinshaw’s goal here is not to redesign suburbia, though. He wants the city to be the only option by being the best option, and I can definitely see the merit in that arguement. I hope that he is right, and that more vibrant cities will attract more people away from living in areas where a car is the only means of getting around. Where I also agree with Hinshaw is that cities need to be creative in their development and need to realize that the most successful dense neighbourhoods are ones where everything you need on a daily basis is within walking distance and for anything that isn’t, it’s just a matter of hopping on public transit. A city that builds around the needs of all of its citizens - not just those driving cars - will definitely be a bigger draw to more people and create a real sense of community within a larger metropolis.

By Leszek Apouchtine

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Leszek Apouchtine is one of the founding editors at re:place. His day job is in the print industry and he also works as a freelance writer.