hubs and dense community centers paired with public parks and attractions takes form in many urban planning principles today. Columbia, Maryland was founded in 1967 by James Rouse and planned with New Town principles. The area 15 miles outside of Washington, D.C., was initially split into six self-contained villages that surrounded the Town Center and mall. Each would have a village center - complete with its own shopping center, high school, and recreation facilities. Also included were interfaith centers to preserve land and host several religious denominations. Rouse was prolific in promoting mixed-use development in this development. Today, Columbia has a population of more than 100,000 and is regarded for its sense of community and early adoption of pedestrian-centric planning. Reston and Columbia were notable New Towns from this period, though they still underwent financial restructuring or bankruptcy. Publicly-funded developments After relative success in Reston and Columbia, new towns in the United States received federal support and funding after passage of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970. This law authorized the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to finance property acquisition and development for the purpose of building new communities. Taking example from European New Town programs, developers in the United States planned new communities across the country, including: St. Charles, Maryland; Maumelle, Arkansas; The Woodlands, Texas; Soul City, North Carolina; Harbison, South Carolina; Shenandoah, Georgia; Jonathan, Minnesota; Park Forest South, Illinois; Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Riverton, New York; Flower Mound, Texas; San Antonio Ranch, Texas; Gananda, New York; and Newfields, Ohio. Of the fourteen communities funded under America's Title VII New Towns Program, thirteen went bankrupt. Financial losses, struggles attracting industry, and inadequate state and local involvement led to the program's rapid demise. For the thirteen communities that went bankrupt, loan guarantees of $300 million and assistance of $72 million were provided by the government. The Program was shut down in 1976, just six years after its founding. See also Town and country planning in the United Kingdom Urban Planning New Urbanism Garden City Movement Suburbia Notes References Hall, P. (1996), Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford. Hall, P. & Ward, C. (1998), Sociable Cities: the Legacy of Ebenezer Howard, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester. Osborn, F.J. & Whittick, A. (1969), the New Town:, the answer to megalopolis, Leonard Hill, London. Urban planning