The Congress for the New Urbanism can’t decide whether it favors coercion or not. The group believes that New Urban designs — high-density, mixed-use developments with pedestrian-friendly layouts — will make cities more livable and that there is a large pent-up demand for such livability. But at least some of its members are not sure they trust people to choose New Urban living, so they are willing to force those choices upon people.
One of the first things CNU did when it was founded in the early 1990s was publish a list of “New Urban basics” saying, “All development should be in the form of compact, walkable neighborhoods and/or districts.” Another document, called the Charter of the New Urbanism, held that existing suburbs should be reconfigured along New Urbanist principles. This doesn’t offer much choice for people who don’t want to live in compact developments.
