Robert Adam's essay entitled "Differences between the Historic Urban Experience in Europe and the USA" was recently published in the fifth report of the Eurocouncil, held in Belgium earlier this year. The council was set up as a sister organisation to the hugely successful American movement, the Congress for New Urbanism. Both groups aim to discuss and promote the creation of more humane cities, towns and villages, learning from the traditional city. However, whilst embracing these common goals, Adam argues that to work most effectively together, new urbanists in Europe and the US must also be sensitive to the differences in their attitudes towards urbanism, formed by two distinct histories and cultures.

The historic urban experience in the US is not necessarily the same as in Europe and this has influenced the underlying values of both new urban movements. Europe, despite its modern-day union, contains many diverse and conflicting cultures, each with an extensive history. Cities developed gradually from small historic cores, under varied patterns of land ownership and often using materials unique to the locality. In contrast, the creation of new towns in the USA took place at a remarkable pace in line with massive population growth and was often based upon a complex grid plan that allowed for rapid expansion.