The public realm for multi-modal travel and open space recreation becomes the first design determinant. This then becomes an attractive amenity for subsequent private development. This framework allows buildings that accommodate a variety of activities, are flexible, and change over time according to the changing needs of their users. The resulting pattern appears and functions cohesively. This approach to planning differs significantly from conventional suburban practices, where object buildings are placed on single-use parcels of land, and collector and arterial streets and highways designed largely for private vehicles form the connections between them.
Little attention is given to crafting a coherent public realm.
Consequently, cities planned under this paradigm generate a pattern that appears fragmented and functions only through automobile dependence. The organic settlement patterns of America's first 250 years are a sustainable model of urban form. Cities never just happened, they evolved over time according to individual needs at the time. In the first era of American city-building, the need to be within walking distance of a vast number of daily goods and services resulted in a dense, compact and varied pattern. Subsequent eras dominated by railroad and streetcar transportation produced a pattern of linear corridors bordered by compact residential neighborhoods.