Home

Syllabus

Calendar

Project 1

Lessons
Planning

Urban Design

Form Based Codes

TOD
Open Space
Housing

Density
Culture
Micorclimates 1
Microclimates 2
Ecology
Commerce
Transportation
Space Development

Definitions

A set of study questions is available here to help you focus your attention on some important points.

Definitions
• "Form based planning uses the existing physical form of the neighborhood as a template for future development."
• "Form based codes prescribes the physical characteristics of a building and a build to line instead of the setback regulations seen with land use zoning." -- Paraphrased from Wikipedia.
• "A method of regulating development to achieve a specific urban form. Form-based codes create a predictable public realm by controlling physical form primarily, with a lesser focus on land use, through city or county regulations." -- Form Based Codes Institute

The Transect

Transect Plan

The process of developing a form based code often envolves the concept of a development transect. Read the article: Building Community across the Rural-to-Urban Transect by Charles C. Bohl with Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. Download the pdf here.

T1	T2	T3	T4	T5	T6

T1 - The Natural Zone consists of lands approximating or reverting to a wilderness condition, including land unsuitable for settlement due to topography or vegetation

T2 - The Rural Zone consists of lands in open or cultivated state or sparsely settled. These include woodlands, agricultural lands, grasslands and irrigatable deserts.

T3 - The Sub-urban Zone consits of low density suburban residential areas, differing by allowing home occupations. Planting is naturalistic, with setbacks relatively deep. Blocks may be large and the roads irregular to accommodate natural contitions.

T4 - The General Urban Zone consists of a mixed-use put primarily residential urban fabric. It has a wide range of building types; single, sideyard, and rowhouses. Setbacks and landscapeing are variable. Streets typically define medium-sized blocks.

T5 - The Urban Center Zone consists of higher density mixed-use building types that accommodate retail, offices, rowhouses and apartments. It has a light network of streets, sith wide sidewalks, steady street tree planting and buildings set close to the frontages.

T6 - The Urban Core Zone cpmsosts pf tje jogjest demsotu, sith the greatest variety of uses, and civic buildings of regional importance. It may have larger blocks; streets have steady street tree planting and buildings set close to the frontages.

Elements

Example of a Regulating Plan

For a good overview of form based codes download this pdf

Form-based codes commonly include the following elements:
• Regulating plan. A plan or map of the regulated area designating the locations where different building form standards apply, based on clear community intentions regarding the physical character of the area being coded.
• Building form standards. Regulations controlling the configuration, features, and functions of buildings that define and shape the public realm.
• Public space/street standards. Specifications for the elements within the public realm (e.g., sidewalks, travel lanes, street trees, street furniture, etc.).
• Administration. A clearly defined application and project review process.
• Definitions. A glossary to ensure the precise use of technical terms.
Form-based codes also sometimes include:
• Architectural standards. Regulations controlling external architectural materials and quality.
• Annotation. Text and illustrations explaining the intentions of specific code provisions.

Tyoes of Form Based Codes

Street-based
The Regulating Plan locates private realm development standards by street type; that is, the development standards for all site and building characteristics is governed by the site’s relationship to pre-defined street types. In addition to setting the private realm standards, the Regulating Plan defines elements within the public realm (e.g. sidewalks, travel lanes, on-street parking, street trees, street furniture, etc.). This type of form-based code can be useful for areas where streets have not yet been platted.

Frontage-based
The Regulating Plan locates private realm design standards by frontage type; that is, the development standards for all site and building characteristics is defined by the edge condition where it meets the primary street (frontage). Frontage-based FBCs may also define street type, but the development standards are not (or not always) tied to street type. This type of form-based code can be useful for areas where streets are already designed and/or built.

Street-Frontage Hybrid
Development standards are tied to specific frontage/street combinations.

Building Type-based
The Regulating Plan controls the locations of pre-defined building types. The
development standards define the configurations, features, and functions of buildings.

Transect-based
The Regulating Plan articulates a cross section of street types, frontage types
and/or building types along an urban/rural continuum to understand where different uses or building types fit or are inappropriate. The “pure” transect-based FBC uses the SmartCode transect with clearly defined zones fromT1 to T6 This system was first created by DPZ (Duany Plater Zyberk).

Modified Transect
The concept of the transect is modified to correlate with the existing or zoned local urban to suburban characteristics.

Building Form Standards typically address

• Windows
• Building placement
• Setback from residential zones
• Height and upper-story setbacks
• Parking (amount and location)
• Transparency
• Entrances
• Uses

Identifying Form Based Codes

King County Washington made a draft form based code public in July 2009

A well-crafted form-based code is an effective development regulation for shaping pedestrian-scaled, mixed use and fine-grained urbanism. How does one determine if a development regulation is a form-based code and a well-crafted one? Form-based codes generally receive affirmative answers to all of the following questions:

• Is the code's focus primarily on regulating urban form and less on land use?
• Is the code regulatory rather than advisory?
• Does the code emphasize standards and parameters for form with predictable physical outcomes (build-to lines, frontage type requirements, etc.) rather than relying on numerical parameters (floor-area ratios, density, etc.) whose outcomes are impossible to predict?
• Does the code require private buildings to shape public space through the use of building form standards with specific requirements for building placement?
• Does the code promote and/or conserve an interconnected street network and pedestrian-scaled blocks?
• Are regulations and standards keyed to specific locations on a regulating plan?
• Are the diagrams in the code unambiguous, clearly labeled, and accurate in their presentation of spatial configurations?

Effective form-based codes usually receive affirmative answers to these questions:

• Is the code enforceable?
• Does the code implement a plan that reflects specific community intentions?
• Are the procedures for code administration clearly described?
• Is the form-based code effectively coordinated with other applicable policies and regulations that control development on the same property?
• Is the code designed, intended, and programmed to be regularly updated?
Is the code easy to use?
• Is the overall format and structure of the code readily discernable so that users can easily find what is pertinent to their interest?
• Can users readily understand and execute the physical form intended by the code?
• Are the intentions of each regulation clearly described and apparent even to planning staff and citizens who did not participate in its preparation?
• Are technical terms used in the code defined in a clear and understandable manner?
• Does the code format lend itself to convenient public distribution and use?
Will the code produce functional and vital urbanism?
• Will the code shape the public realm to invite pedestrian use and social interaction?
• Will the code produce walkable, identifiable neighborhoods that provide for daily needs?
• Is the code based on a sufficiently detailed physical plan and/or other clear community vision that directs development and aids implementation?
• Are parking requirements compatible with pedestrian-scaled urbanism?

Advantages and Disadvantages

According to Peter Katz of the Form-Based Codes Institute, advantages of form-based codes include the following.

1. Because they are prescriptive (they state what you want), rather than proscriptive (what you don't want), form-based codes (FBCs) can achieve a more predictable physical result. The elements controlled by FBCs are those that are most important to the shaping of a high quality built environment.
2. FBCs encourage public participation because they allow citizens to see what will happen where-leading to a higher comfort level about greater density, for instance.
3. Because they can regulate development at the scale of an individual building or lot, FBCs encourage independent development by multiple property owners. This obviates the need for large land assemblies and the megaprojects that are frequently proposed for such parcels.
4. The built results of FBCs often reflect a diversity of architecture, materials, uses, and ownership that can only come from the actions of many independent players operating within a communally agreed-upon vision and legal framework.
5. FBCs work well in established communities because they effectively define and codify a neighborhood's existing "DNA." Vernacular building types can be easily replicated, promoting infill that is compatible with surrounding structures.
6. Non-professionals find FBCs easier to use than conventional zoning documents because they are much shorter, more concise, and organized for visual access and readability. This feature makes it easier for nonplanners to determine whether compliance has been achieved.
7. FBCs obviate the need for design guidelines, which are difficult to apply consistently, offer too much room for subjective interpretation, and can be difficult to enforce. They also require less oversight by discretionary review bodies, fostering a less politicized planning process that could deliver huge savings in time and money and reduce the risk of takings challenges.
8. FBCs may prove to be more enforceable than design guidelines. The stated purpose of FBCs is the shaping of a high quality public realm, a presumed public good that promotes healthy civic interaction. For that reason compliance with the codes can be enforced, not on the basis of aesthetics but because a failure to comply would diminish the good that is sought. While enforceability of development regulations has not been a problem in new growth areas controlled by private covenants, such matters can be problematic in already-urbanized areas due to legal conflicts.

Disadvantages

Existing building owner complain that if they rebuild they have to construct a building larger than they need. This put them into a sometimes unwanted role of landlord and places a large financing and insurance burden on them.

Implementation

The following communities are among those that have adopted or are drafting form-based zoning codes.

• Azuza, California: Development Code
• Farmers Branch, Texas
• Fort Myers Beach, Florida
• Hercules, California: Regulating Code for the Central Hercules Plan
• Petaluma, California: Central Petaluma SmartCode
• Woodford County, Kentucky: The New Urban Code
• Sonoma, California: Sonoma Development Code
• St. Lucie County, Florida: Towns-Villages-Countryside Code
• Peoria, Illinois: "Heart of Peoria Land Development Code"

Illustration:
Photo Simulations

Peoria has developed a great set of sequential photo simulations to illustrate the possible impact of their form based code over time.