New urbanism in practice: an analysis of The Village, Niagara-on-the-Lake

New urbanism has played an increasingly influential role in Canadian planning and development. Its recent popularity has demonstrated a propensity towards compact, mixed-use, diverse, pedestrian-oriented, and walkable communities, which provide a high standard of architectural design and a focus on the public realm. The Village presents a case study of a growing historic and rural small town which has turned to new urbanism to guide its new development. The traditional design features have proven ideal for a mixed commercial-residential neighbourhood which carefully selected strategies of implementation to protect its local heritage and character in a modern development. This research presents a discussion of the new urbanism, analyzes a typology put forth by Dan Trudeau that helps inform many choice features of The Village as characteristic of Hybrid Urbanism, and explores the extent to which the principles of the movement have been carried out successfully in this case study community. Key words: new urbanism; mixed-use development; Niagara-on-the-Lake; traditional neighbourhood development.