New Urbanism was formally launched by the Congress for the New Urbanism in 1993.
The movement promotes compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with connected streets, a variety of housing types, and public spaces. Its advocates developed it partly as a response to low-density suburban development organized around automobile travel.
The Congress for the New Urbanism was founded by architects and planners including Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, and Stefanos Polyzoides. The group issued the Charter of the New Urbanism in 1996, setting out principles for regional planning, neighborhoods, streets, and buildings.
New Urbanism is sometimes treated as identical to traditional town planning, but it is a modern planning movement with its own professional organization and charter. Its ideas have influenced master-planned communities, redevelopment projects, transit-oriented development, and zoning debates.