[5] Jacobs rejected the modernist views that dominated urban planning and architecture in the 1950s–60s and constructed an alternative philosophy that values traditional neighborhoods and the role of the inner city.
[6] Proponents believe that urban villages provide a viable alternative to the social ills that characterize modernism in cities, such as freeways and high-rise estates.
The decline of noxious industry and the emergence of the service economy allows the mixing of employment and residential activities without detriment to residents.
The urban village movement has been influenced by Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City ideals which also emphasize environmental determinism in relation to community.
Urban design techniques such as public space and pedestrianization are employed to facilitate the development of community by encouraging human interaction.
[10] It has been suggested that the demise of the neighborhood community is a function of "conscious economic and social choice" rather than a product of urban form.