Current Version: 2002

The Lexicon of the New Urbanism is a work in progress that DPZ first developed in the early 1990s. The Lexicon offers a comprehensive list of New Urbanist terminology, including still-useful terms that have been lost to current practice and terms whose meanings have been dissipated through misuse.

The language of the Lexicon is intended to be adaptable for codes and standards, both of which require precision and brevity at the expense of justification or explanation. Yet, despite the commitment to code language, there is an attempt to avoid the legalisms that are an impediment to common understanding.

The Lexicon is not a finished artifact as much as a repository of raw material available for an indefinite number of specialized publications. The Lexicon may be downloaded in PDF from the link above. As we continue to evolve this work, we will post updates here.


Lexicon