The Tyee

Even if you've never heard of Miami-based Andrès Duany before, you've felt his impact. As co-founders of new urbanism, he and partner Elizabeth Plyter-Zyberk have reshaped much of the thinking about cities in the past two decades, arguing that higher density can be compatible with market-friendly neotraditional and vernacular architecture. New urbanism has influenced contemporary urban planning approaches from Saudi Arabia to downtown Vancouver. But it still suffers a bad rep from its first and best-known early '80s manifestation: "Seaside," a rigidly planned town in Florida that's beloved and reviled for its folksy cuteness. (It's notorious as the setting on The Truman Show, that cinematic send-up of an artificially constructed life.) Now Duany is on the verge of reshaping Vancouver even more directly, as the master planner of the so-called East Fraserlands Project. The proposal to reconfigure an entire swathe of East Vancouver was unanimously passed by Vancouver City Council on Nov. 14. If all goes as planned, the triangular region bordering on Marine Way will transform over the next 15-20 years into a pedestrian-oriented village-within-the-city, complete with town square, waterfront plaza, and shopping within walking distance of all residences.