Since 1993 the Congress for the New Urbanism has advocated for the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions. We stand for the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of national environments, and the preservation of our built legacy. We believe that the task of rebuilding neighborhoods, cities, and regions is profoundly interdisciplinary.

The new urbanism is both a professional discipline and a movement. It is a discipline because its practice is based on a qualified set of principles that are directed to a particular goal: American families should have better lives than they have now, in places hospitable and beautiful that support their values and their needs. We aim to reverse the process of urban sprawl and to apply public policy and private development to the task of building towns, cities and regions based on the design of traditional neighborhoods.

The new urbanism is a movement, because it aims through professional practice and free association to educate those with a role in the design of the physical world. Their practices can then be harnessed to realize the goals and purposes of the CNU.

CNU takes its name from the Congresses it sponsors, annual gatherings which provide professionals, developers, elected officials, and community representatives the opportunity to discuss issues related to the health and vitality of cities. It is one of only a few organizations addressing the confluence of community, economics, environment, and design in our cities, and the only one asserting that these issues must be addressed simultaneously through urban design and planning.