Do you remember the town in the movie The Truman Show? In reality, it’s the small, planned town of Seaside, Florida. It’s representative of a movement among architects and city planners called “new urbanism.” 還記得電影《楚門的世界》（The Truman Show）里那個(gè)叫“桃源島”的小城嗎？該鎮(zhèn)事實(shí)上就在佛羅里達(dá)州，是一個(gè)規(guī)劃完善的小鎮(zhèn)。不僅如此，它還是由建筑師和城市規(guī)劃者發(fā)起的“新城市主義”運(yùn)動(dòng)的代表作。 Until the 1950s, America’s small towns and cities were known for their convenience and comfort. People could walk to school, or stores, or work. Downtown shopping areas were vibrant with customers. Most people did not own a car, but the walkability of the cities combined with the easy availability of trains and buses meant that most people did not need to go to the trouble and expense of depending on a car. In the bigger cities like Los Angeles or Washington, extensive trolley systems allowed people to get around. 直至20世紀(jì)50年代，美國的小鎮(zhèn)和城市一直以便利舒適著稱。人們可以步行去上學(xué)，去商店，或者上班。顧客為市中心的購物區(qū)帶來了生機(jī)與活力。雖然大多數(shù)人沒有自己的車，但城市基本都可步行而至，加上火車、公共汽車的便捷條件，意味著他們不需要陷入養(yǎng)車的麻煩和開銷之中。在像洛杉磯或華盛頓這樣的大城市中，密布的電車系統(tǒng)更方便了人們的出行。 I looked at a 1915 railroad schedule for my hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee, which at that time was a very small town of less than 20,000 people. Eighty seven passenger trains each day stopped at the Clarksville station. After World War II, we destroyed that great railroad system. 我的家鄉(xiāng)位于田納西州的克拉克斯維爾（Clarksville, Tennessee）。我曾經(jīng)看過它1915年時(shí)的鐵路規(guī)劃圖。那時(shí)的它還是一個(gè)人口不到2萬的很小的小鎮(zhèn)。每天有87輛客運(yùn)列車停在克拉克斯維爾車站。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)過后，人們毀掉了那個(gè)美好的鐵路系統(tǒng)。 The classic towns that survive — Alexandria, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, Annapolis, Maryland — are so attractive that tourists flock just to see them. Isn’t it ironic that people have to go on vacation just so that they can have a walk around town? 類似亞歷山大（Alexandria），弗吉尼亞（Virginia），查爾斯頓（Charleston），南卡羅來納（South Carolina），安納波利斯（Annapolis），馬里蘭（Maryland）這些存活下來的經(jīng)典城鎮(zhèn)都魅力十足。各地游客蜂擁而至，只為一睹它們的風(fēng)采?？煞且獊泶硕燃俚娜藗儯瑓s只是為了在這些小鎮(zhèn)上轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)，這難道不是很諷刺嗎？ New urbanist architects asked the seemingly obvious question: If America’s small towns of a hundred years ago were so nice, why don’t we just copy them? Why do we keep building ugly, inconvenient suburbs when we know how to do better? 新城市主義的建筑師提出過一個(gè)看似顯而易見的問題：如果一百年前的美國小鎮(zhèn)是那么的完美，我們?yōu)槭裁床桓纱鄰?fù)制這些建筑呢？當(dāng)我們知道怎么做會(huì)更好時(shí)，我們?yōu)槭裁匆Ａ糁切┯殖笥植环奖愕慕紖^(qū)呢？ The new urbanists have had some success. In addition to Seaside, Kentlands, Maryland, north of Washington is a great community where everyone can safely walk to schools, stores, or churches. In the UK, the town of Poundbury, which was championed by Prince Charles, has had similar success. Typically, homes in these New Urbanist communities sell for more than those in adjacent conventional suburbs. 新城市主義取得了一些成功。除了海濱鎮(zhèn)（Seaside）、肯特蘭鎮(zhèn)（Kentlands）、馬里蘭州（Maryland）之外，華盛頓北部也是一個(gè)很棒的社區(qū)。在那里，每個(gè)人都可以安全地去往學(xué)校，商店或教堂。在英國，由查爾斯王子支持的龐德伯里鎮(zhèn)（Poundbury），也取得了類似的成功。一般來說，這些新城市主義社區(qū)的住宅比鄰近的傳統(tǒng)郊區(qū)的住宅賣得多。 Doubtless, these relatively small New Urbanist enclaves are great places to live, but their populations are too small to support many businesses and jobs. Almost all their inhabitants have to drive to work in a nearby big city. 毫無疑問，這些相對(duì)較小的新城市主義飛地適宜人們居住。但它們的人口太少，不足以支撐大量的企業(yè)和就業(yè)崗位。幾乎所有的居民都不得不開車去附近的大城市工作。 I recently visited my wife’s hometown, of Yuxi, Yunnan province. It’s a rather small city about 90 kilometers south of Kunming, with about 300,000 people living in a core city area of about 15 square kilometers. Walking around Yuxi, I saw a dream city of the new urbanists. The streets were always full of people who were going to the small retail stores and to the many parks. 最近，我去了我妻子的家鄉(xiāng)——云南省玉溪市。它是昆明以南約90公里的一座小城市。面積約15平方公里的城市核心區(qū)，大約有30萬人口居住。漫步玉溪，我看到了新城市主義的理想之城。街上總是擠滿了去零售店和眾多公園的人。 Especially in South China, many other small and medium-sized cities have that same pleasant, active atmosphere. For example, walking around shopping districts in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, reminded me very much of American small towns before they were destroyed by malls and interstate highways. 尤其在中國南方，其他許多的中小城市也有同樣活躍宜人的氣氛。比如，走在浙江溫州的商業(yè)區(qū)，就讓我想起了許多被購物中心和州際公路毀掉前的美國小鎮(zhèn)。 China’s small cities are denser than any true US small towns or new urbanists towns. High residential buildings and surrounding agricultural land ensures that there are enough people so that stores have customers and companies have workers. New urbanists emphasize using traditional architectural forms, but the small storefronts in China make the streets livelier. 中國小城市的人口比任何真正的美國小鎮(zhèn)或者新城市主義城鎮(zhèn)都要密集。高層住宅和周圍的農(nóng)業(yè)用地確保城市有足夠多的人口，這樣商店才有顧客，公司也有員工。雖然新城市主義強(qiáng)調(diào)傳統(tǒng)建筑形式的使用，但是中國的小店鋪卻使街道更加富有生活氣息。 Of course, many people want to move to giant cities for career opportunities. But, the small cities of China offer a pleasant lifestyle and are an attractive model for city planners from around the world. More emphasis should be placed on ensuring they continue to thrive. 當(dāng)然，很多人都想搬到大城市去尋找工作機(jī)會(huì)。但中國的小城市為人們提供了一種舒適的生活方式，也為全球的城市規(guī)劃設(shè)計(jì)師提供了一個(gè)成功的范例。設(shè)計(jì)師們應(yīng)該更加重視如何確保城市的持續(xù)繁榮。