Taking “New-Urbanism” to heart, studioMAS has designed a village that combines day-to-day green living with work and play. Without compromising privacy or security, De Land’s numerous green-lined paths and open spaces encourage community engagement and good health.
Most of the landscaping comprises indigenous plant species that require very little water, appropriate for a water-scarce site, while harvested rainwater is channeled to retention ponds. Although some are left unpaved, the majority of streets are maintained with permeable pavers.
The pedestrian-friendly village is also within walking distance of numerous amenities and optional activities – enough to satisfy a broad range of interests and discourage car traffic in one fell swoop. And for the more shy resident, private gardens offer a peaceful respite from nosey neighbors.
Most of the building materials will be sourced locally and kept simple, with masonry walls and zinc roofs, and solar-heated geysers will keep energy costs relatively low. North and northeast-facing buildings will also contribute to a passive cooling effect. Finally, though we take this for granted in developed countries, village-wide high speed internet connectivity will enable working-age residents to stay home and avoid the carbon-spewing commute.
Is this a concept or something they want to build. They don’t seem to have a lot of parking for all the people. Still I don’t care either way. I’ve been rather dismissive of new urbanism. But everyone knows if you don’t build enough parking spaces, no one will live, work or shop there. Even mixed used developments fail to understand convenient parking drives retail and residential, no matter how pedestrian friendly we try to make towns and cities. In Fort Worth for instance built a 10 story garage next to pretty historic office building but the garage has a facade to make it more attractive.
I can understand the need of a city to expand at times. But rezoning agricultural to commercial or residential is not good.