New Urbanism: redeeming cities

No time today for more than a pointed little jibe: Why do we have to burn fuel, fray our nerves, waste our time, piecing our lives together out of a tangled mass of commutes?
The answer, of course, is that nobody wants to live in our inner cities the way they are. It’s a matter of history, but is it a necessity?
If we don’t like your city, could we improve it until we do, rather than simply dumping it and sprawling out to the next ’burb?

Responding to the challenge of this so-called “new Urbanism” would involve reversing the habits of 200 years, but could it help make our lives massively more sustainable, and even enjoyable, as we became more plugged into our localities in a different way...