Codes

Chapter 10 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide

Codes are the DNA of communities. This chapter examines the failings of conventional zoning codes and looks at alternative planning and design tools that serve New Urbanism’s goals. Some great historical places have benefited from codes, including colonial Williamsburg, where setbacks of buildings and their relationship to streets were regulated, and Paris, where dimensions of buildings along boulevards reflect strict architectural rules. Conventional codes, however, with their minimum lot sizes, use restrictions, mandatory setbacks, and parking requirements, have generally brought density down, narrowed the choice of housing, dispersed uses, consumed land inefficiently, and made it difficult to support convenient, cost-effective transit.

This chapter explains the benefits and workings of form-based codes, which regulate the shape or form of buildings and the public realm. These codes organize buildings to create coherent “outdoor rooms.” Expectations for outdoor rooms differ by Transect zone, so codes must vary with the zone. Build-to lines, facades, porches, colonnades, balconies, and other elements often are considered in the regulations. Whether codes should be public — adopted as laws or ordinances — or private (usually established by a developer) is discussed in this chapter. 

Regulating plans, urban codes, architectural codes, and street standards all exert an influence on the built environment. An important question is whether to make the urban code mandatory or optional. Pattern books can be used as a form of code — regulating and guiding building details and conveying information about building placement, street design, and other patterns at the block or neighborhood scale. This chapter identifies zoning barriers to compact development and presents examples of form-based codes across the US. Also covered in this chapter are Wisconsin’s statewide code requirement and state rehabilitation codes, particularly New Jersey’s. Several pages of illustrations and standards are included.