Since 1994, Kevin Klinkenberg, principal of K2 Urban Design has explored his passion for walkable communities. A Fellow with the Knight Program in Community Building through the University of Miami and the Knight Foundation and a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) since 1997, Klinkenberg seeks the balance between the practical and the visionary in projects of all scales, from individual sites to neighborhoods to entire regions.
With 18 years of professional experience, Klinkenberg has become a National authority on planning and urban design. He is a frequent speaker and writer on anything related to the design and planning of walkalble communities. His volunteer activities include serving as 2010 president of AIA/Kansas City and board tenure on the Urban Society of Kansas City, Housing Choices Coalition, along with numerous volunteer committees.
Klinkenberg has also been a faculty member for the Form-Based Codes Institute and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Architecture & Urban Design. Additionally he has been active in setting new standards for context-sensitive transportation policy through the CNU and is working with several national colleagues on the formation of XNU, the next stage in the development of New Urbanism.
Klinkenberg recently relocated to the beautiful and walkable city of Savannah, GA, where he lives and rarely uses a vehicle.
Hi! New Urbanism is, or course, a good idea and not many planners are arguing with that. The only complaints that you sometimes hear are these rumblings about aspects of it being “contrived” or not feeling “real.” I am trying to get to the bottom of that at my new blog. BUT, I just started and I have like three(!) readers. So, some time when you are not too busy can you (and/or some of your readers) look and comment please?? If possible, be gentle, I am a new blogger
Thanks Libby,
There’s lots of discussion about that critique out there. But, what I’d ask first is – “what do you actually mean by that?” You have to get to the bottom of what people are saying. Most NU is very new, and new places tend to real not as “real” as places that have been around a while. But, all those places we seek to emulate were once new as well. There are those who complain about the architecture feeling “contrived” or “Disney-like.” Again, we have to get at what the real objection is. For many architects and designers, anything that is not one of the contemporary styles is “contrived.” But, does the lay person feel that way, too?
There are legitimate critiques, and we should listen to all of them. What I would suggest you do is continue to ask people hard questions, to try and find out what they specifically are objecting to.
Kevin