AIA’s 10 Principles for Livable

Communities

Lecture: July 20, 2022

Spaceship EARTH, Dome Over Manhattan Island.
• Good sidewalks create an environment
where people feel comfortable walking.
• Farmers’ markets bring a community
together, provide healthy food, and
support the local economy.
• First-floor retail and commercial uses,
like this restaurant at the base of an
office building, contribute to street life.
• A former auto shop is converted to a
neighborhood supermarket.
 AIA’s 10 Principles for Livable
Communities
1. Design on a Human Scale
2. Provide Choices
3. Encourage Mixed-Use Development
4. Preserve Urban Centers
5. Vary Transportation Options
6. Build Vibrant Public Spaces
7. Create a Neighborhood Identity
8. Protect Environmental Resources
9. Conserve Landscapes
10.Design Matters
 1. Design on a Human Scale
• Compact, pedestrian-friendly communities
allow residents to walk to shops, services,
cultural resources, and jobs and can reduce
traffic congestion and benefit people's health.
 2. Provide Choices
• People want variety in housing, shopping,
recreation, transportation, and employment.
Variety creates lively neighborhoods and
accommodates residents in different stages of
their lives.
3. Encourage Mixed-Use Development
• Integrating different land uses and varied
building types creates vibrant, pedestrian-
friendly and diverse communities.
 Types of Mixed Use
• Mixed-use projects can be horizontally or
vertically mixed. Horizontally mixed-use
projects are generally easier to finance and
build than are vertical projects.
• In a horizontally mixed project, a variety of
uses sit adjacent to one another.
• At their simplest, as in a traditional or neo-
traditional neighborhood, a horizontally
mixed project is essentially a collection of
stand-alone, single-use buildings organized
according to a coherent plan.
• For example, an enclave of residential units—
which may consist of multifamily apartments
or townhouses—sits adjacent to a grouping
of buildings that contain retail, restaurant,
and office functions.
• While the individual uses may be designed,
developed, and built as separate projects, the
grouping is built according to a common
master plan that emphasizes accessibility and
encourages pedestrian movement.
 4. Preserve Urban Centers
• Restoring, revitalizing, and infilling urban
centers takes advantage of existing streets,
services and buildings and avoids the need for
new infrastructure. This helps to curb sprawl
and promote stability for city neighborhoods.
 5.Vary Transportation Options

• Giving people the option of walking,

biking and using public transit, in addition
to driving, reduces traffic congestion,
protects the environment and
encourages physical activity.
Select your transportation
 6. Build Vibrant Public Spaces
• Citizens need welcoming, well-defined public
places to stimulate face-to-face interaction,
collectively celebrate and mourn, encourage
civic participation, admire public art, and
gather for public events.
 7. Create a Neighborhood Identity
• A "sense of place" gives neighborhoods a
unique character, enhances the walking
environment, and creates pride in the
community.
 8. Protect Environmental Resources
• A well-designed balance of nature and
development preserves natural systems,
protects waterways from pollution, reduces air
pollution, and protects property values.
 9. Conserve Landscapes
• Open space, farms, and wildlife habitat are
essential for environmental, recreational, and
cultural reasons.
 10. Design Matters

• Design excellence is the foundation of

successful and healthy communities.
End!
 References:
• www.flickr.com/photos/heacphotos/2941565309/
• www.flickr.com/photos/heacphotos/2942478764/
• www.flickr.com/photos/heacphotos/2941583947/
• www.flickr.com/photos/29822340@N08/3009269122/
• http://www.ncpad.org/get/misc/Nov05DC/NovDC1.jpg
• http://www.walkinginfo.org/develop/images/plan.5.0.Overview.j
pg
• www.tasteslo.com/live.asp/
• http://www.tasteslo.com/listings/img/slocchomes-b.jpg
• http://arttattler.com/Images/NorthAmerica/NewYork/Whitney
/Buckminster%20Fuller/fuller_dome.jpg
• www.flickr.com/photos/jbenson2/2572942148/
• www.venere.com/blog/how-to-travel-within-the-uk/
• http://resources.uship.com/static/users/61507e2e-6ea9-40c9-
9.jpg
• www.travelindiasmart.com/transportation.php
• www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art11/ad..
• www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/build-paris-...
• www.zanesville.ohiou.edu/.../index.htm