New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New Pedestrianism
New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New pedestrianism'' is a 2008 documentary film, and DVD release, AbOUT American artist and urban designer Michael E. Arth, his New Pedestrianism movement, and his efforts to rebuild the cities, beginning with “Cracktown,” an inner city slum in DeLand, Florida. This 83-minute international edition—with subtitles in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Chinese—was re-edited from a 100-minute version that made the film festival circuit in 2007. The earlier version was titledNew Urban Cowboy: The Labors of Michael E. Arth.''
Synopsis
The plot follows modern-day polymath Michael E. Arth and his pregnant wife, Maya, on a cross-country trek from Santa Barbara, CA—where they lived in a spacious villa surrounded by waterfalls—to a ruined and dangerous neighborhood in a small town in Florida. Arth buys 32 homes and businesses, and turns the slum into downtown DeLand’s “Historic Garden District.” With guns that shoot nails and staples instead of bullets, and with gentle persuasion instead of violent confrontation, he pushes out the [...] dealers and other criminals, and then creates a retrofitted model for how to build new towns and neighborhoods. Arth also proposes building a Pedestrian Village with work opportunities as a solution to homelessness. The film also follows the development of his urban design philosophy, New Pedestrianism, and ends on an upbeat, optimistic note with a vision for the future. There is also a section, documented with archival footage, which chronicles Arth’s early life and struggles as a surfer, artist, builder, and home/urban designer.
New Pedestrianism
New Pedestrianism (NP) is a more idealistic variation of New Urbanism in urban planning theory, founded in 1999 by Michael E. Arth. NP addresses the problems associated with New Urbanism and is an attempt to solve various social, health, energy, economic, aesthetic, and environmental problems, with special focus on reducing the role of the automobile. A neighborhood or new town utilizing NP is called a Pedestrian Village. Pedestrian Villages can range from being nearly car-free to having automobile access behind nearly every house and business, but pedestrian lanes are always in front.
Connection to Book
Arth's Garden District project was also an attempt to create a living laboratory in order to try out some of the ideas in a two-volume book that he was writing titled, The Labors of Hercules: Modern Solutions to 12 Herculean Problems.
Trilogy
New Urban Cowboy is the first in a series of three documentaries explicating Arth’s ideas about problem solving and future trends. The other two films, scheduled for release in 2010, are The Labors of Hercules: Modern Solutions to 12 Herculean Problems'' andUNICE: Universal Network of Intelligent Conscious Entities.''
Reaction
In general, New Urban Cowboy received highly favorable reviews, even in the earlier, film festival version. The documentary was selected for seven film festivals and received the Audience Choice Award at the Real to Reel International Film Festival in 2008. Academic reviews about Arth’s urban design philosophy, New Pedestrianism, as expressed in the movie (and elsewhere) were also highly favorable.
Filmmakers
- Michael E. Arth: Producer, Cinematographer
- Blake Wiers: Editor, Cinematographer
- Helena Lea: Music Editor
See also
- Michael E. Arth
- New Urbanism
- New Pedestrianism
- Pedestrian Village
External links
- Official website
- Golden Apples Media
- IMDb entry for New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New Pedestrianism.
- Michael E. Arth’s website
- New Pedestrianism
- Interview with Michael E. Arth
- Review by Greg Dewar in N-Juda Chronicles
- Carbusters Magazine review of New Urban Cowboy, Winter 2007/2008
- Michael E. Arth, “New Pedestrianism: A Bridge to the Future”
- Labors of Hercules website
- UNICE website
- Blake Wiers website
de:New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New Pedestrianism es:New Urban Cowboy fr:New Urban Cowboy ja:ニューアーバンカウボーイ zh:新城市牛仔