Chapter 17, Student Web Activities, Sociology and You, Glencoe, 2003

Chapter 17: Social Change and Collective Behavior
"The New Urbanism"

Introduction
In this chapter you learned about the processes for social change and the causes and types of collective behavior. Each of the theoretical perspectives interprets the causes of social change differently. Symbolic interactionists identify decreasing shared values as a source of social instability, and they consider urbanization—the shift from agricultural to urban societies—as one cause of society's increasing impersonality and fragmentation. In recent years, however, a trend has emerged to develop functional, human-scale communities in the United States. The trend is called the new urbanism, and in this activity you will learn more about it.

Destination Title: New Urban News

Note: Clicking on the link above will launch a new browser window.
Need help using your browser for this activity? Click here for tips.

Directions
Start at the New Urban News Web site.

Scroll down the screen to read the information on urbanism.

Use what you have learned to answer the following questions.

1. What factors led to the change to suburban communities from compact, mixed-use neighborhoods?

2. What are the drawbacks of conventional suburban development (CSD)?

3. What is the New Urbanism? What are some other names for it?

4. There are 13 principles of the New Urbanism. List the three that you think are the most important, and explain why.

5. Use what you have learned about the principles and goals of the New Urbanism to design a city. Use a large poster board to lay out your city, or build a three-dimensional model of your city. Indicate where streets, parks, schools, houses, buildings, and stores will be located. Use a variety of textures and colors to add interest and clarity to your model. Share your model with the class, and explain why you chose to lay out your city the way you did.