Slide Show- Form-based CodeWhat are Form -Based Codes?
This brief slide show explains how form -based codes.
help communities achieve development goals.
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Form-based codes (FBCs) seek to restore time-
tested forms of urbanism. They give unity, efficient
organization, social vitality, and waikability to our
cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
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FBCs are a response to the past half -century of tuitions on 1oCatennot
urban development, when regulations have been "n"`"^"°""""
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The current system of zoning was devised to
prevent undesirable juxtapositions, like factories
next to homes, and incompatible scales of
development.
Separating incompatible land uses is sensible. But
many diverse land uses are compatible and their
unnatural separation can be harmful to communities.
However, the rationale of separation became an
unquestioned planning convention, one that needs
closer examination.
Standard zoning has led to communities being
divided and separated into sectors, with zones
for apartments, large houses, small houses,
shopping, offices and industry. To move among
these everyone has to drive (or be driven).
The unintended consequences have been
sprawl...
the disassembling of our cities...
populations divided by income .. .
and the disappearance of
social gathering places.
Transportation planning with a
single-minded concern with
vehicular movement has further
eroded community life.
Post-war transportation theory
conceives of three types of
streets: collector streets (red)
which feed vehicles from slow
local streets (yellow) to high-
speed arterials (purple) for
distance travel. For new streets,
this has become the norm
across the United States.
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But this results in fragmented
street systems. Little Mary might
see her playmate's house a short
distance away, but if she wishes to
bicycle there, she may have to go
surprising distances, includingon
fast collectors and arterials. For
pedestrians, distances are tiring
and streets don't connect as you
expect.
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Communities often don't like the results of modern zoning
and transportation planning. They want a better future,
one where different planning professionals are not
working at cross purposes, where planning integrates all
the concerns of a community into a workable whole. Yet
communities struggle to find a better way.
Form-based codes offer a new way of thinking about
development regulation and helping communities
holistically shape their futures. They help to achieve
desired urban forms, such as ...
vital centers supportive of businesses both big and small ...
neighborhoods and streets that are safe and
attractive for walking and bicycling.. .
preservation of community history ...
and protection of the environment.
Dodson & Flinkar Assoc late.
How do Form -Based Codes do this?
Informed by community needs and goals, FBCs are a
set of design regulations that give form to the built
landscape to achieve those aspirations.
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Creating a form-based code begins with asking a
community to envision its future.
Concepts are not enough. A vision needs to show building
types, the relationship of buildings to public spaces, types
of streets and where they go, placement of parking, the
size of blocks, and so forth.
After this vision is drawn ..
a form -based code is drafted to implement it.
The code contains standards that are regulatory
not advisory. They are not mere design guidelines.
They don't just propose, they require.
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Form -Based Codes are composed of Building Form
Standards and Public Space Standards mapped to
a Regulating Plan.
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Building Form Standards
Public Space Standards
Building Form Standards regulate simple things like:
how far buildings are from sidewalks, how much
window area at minimum a building must have, how tall
it is in relation to the width of the street, how accessible
and welcoming front entrances are, and where a
building's parking goes.
Building Form Standards can profoundly affect how
public spaces like streets, squares, and parks are
experienced and used. Building orientation is key.
Building Form Standards can require buildings to have
windows and welcoming entries. They should
contribute to life on the sidewalk.
Building Form Standards designate where parking should go. For
example, the standards can require the placement of parking to the
rear of buildingsto ensure that it doesn't get between buildings and
pedestrians.
In the absence of such standards, buildingdesigns
tend to become idiosyncratic, even eccentric. They
cannot be assembled to create streets that are
unified and pleasing public spaces.
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Some architects fear that Building Form
Standards will restrict their creativity. In reality,
the standards that require walkable urbanism do
not limit architectural creativity and invention.
They simply require that buildings support and
shape the publicspaces of a town or city.
Building Form Standards control the use of land in a more indirect
way than standard zoning. They don't give the long and ever
expanding lists of acceptable uses that zoning codes typically
contain. Rather, they describe general uses. And they try to guide
land use through buildingtype. For example, if a community wants
a pedestrian -friendly main street, its standards would prescribe
shopfront or mixed-use buildings.
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Require this building type... to avoid this
Public Space Standards regulate the form of
streets and squares. Effective standards
create comfortable and useful spaces for
many activities, including walking, bicycling,
driving, publictransit, and a community's
social life. They ensure that public space
works for everyone, not just for the
movement and storage of cars.
Public Space Standards regulate not just
individual streets, but also how streets
interconnect and function as systems.
Contemporary auto -oriented street system
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Walkable interconnected street system
Many FBCs regulate block
dimensions to keep blocks
small and streets inter-
connected. An interconnected
street system allows more
routes between locations. This
encourages walking and
exploration. Automobile traffic
also gets lightly distributed
over many streets rather than
funneled onto a small number
of super -sized streets.
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Urban designers can design streets to
intersect at right angles or have inter-
esting deflections and curves. FBCs make
sure the block dimensions stay walkable.
Street types are formulated not just as
conduits for cars, but also as public spaces
that invite walking, with a rich mix of
buildings and uses.
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A shopping street is a different kind of street
than a boulevard, which is different from a
residential street, which is different from a rear
alley. There are several different types of
streets. For this presentation we're only
showing three.
Shopping street
Residential street
Multi -way bou ever
Dover, Kohrond Partners
The different Building Form Standards and Public
Space Standards are assigned to streets and blocks
in a Regulating Plan. A Regulating Plan plays a key
role in a form -based code.
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Public Space Standards
By looking at the Regulating Plan, a property owner
can quickly see the design regulations governing his or
her property. She knows what can be done on the site
without having to study the entire code.
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Building Form Standard
Public Space Standard
Form -based codes, with their generous illustrations and
simple diagrams, clearly convey a community's intentions
for an area. FBCs are designed for quick and convenient
understanding.
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By putting all the important decisions about urban
form in simple regulations, FBCs cut through red
tape and protracted review processes.
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FBCs provide greater certainty of outcome. Their
form -based regulations ensure that a
community's vision will be more than wishful
thinking. It will be enforced.
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Communities have adopted form -based codes
to guide development at many scales, from
streets to neighborhoodsto entire cities.
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The number of communities adopting form- R o
based codes in North America is rapidlys - t+ r ,. ,i. e
accelerating... ti - -' ,
Number of adopted codes over time
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including major cities like Miami, El Paso, and
Cincinnati.
Adopted form -based codes are transforming communities across the United States.
Form -based codes have been described as the DNA of livable communities. Since 2008,
I've been working with neighborhoods around the city, to make this powerful
alternative to conventional zoning available to our Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Roxanne Qualls, Vice -Mayor, City of Cincinnati, Ohio
For our Columbia Pike corridor, creating the Form -based Code was a powerful vehicle
to coalesce the aspirations of the community into an effective plan — one which both
citizens and prospective developers can understand... Residents wanted to convert an
auto -oriented strip into a walkable Main Street. Ten years later, we can see the
transformation well underway.
Chris Zimmerman, County Board Member, Arlington County, Virginia
Nashville has adopted form -based codes for over 30 districts, corridors, and
neighborhoods. The direct result has been an increase in property values and a much
greater desire to develop in areas with FBC's due to the certainty that the code
provides the developer and the community.
Rick Bernhardt, Planning Director, Nashville, Tennessee
Explore our site to read articles, get answers
to Frequently Asked Questions, see example
codes, and learn about instruction
opportunities.
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FBCI Courses & Webinars
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Introductory Course
FBC 101r: AICs of FBCs On•Uns
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Advanced Coursrn
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Image Credits
IAII images were provided by Steve Price un cess noted below)
SI Ides: 01 Regulating coop, street cross section, budding diogram,Solkowski
Planning Associtan. Dover. Kohl and Partners
Townhouse Sites stondords, Ferrell Madden
Bbd's -eye 3d model. Dover. Kohl and Partners
04 ?*stone photograph. public domain
06 Children and dnVer photopmphs, Veeccom
Tmffc photograph, bStockphoto.com
07 Aenolphotograph. Ging Maps,MicrosoftCorporauon
08 Renal photographs, Sing Maps,Microsott Corporation
10 Satellite vkw. Google/Diptal Globe
11 Satellite view. Geogle/Digital Globe, ovMay by Steve Price
12 Satellite Mew, Google/0'a@al Globe,ovedoy by Steve Price
16 &vdseye drawing. Dodson & Flusher Associates
19 Perspective watercolor, Dover, Kohl and Partners
20 Illustrative pion, Dover. Kohl and Partners
21 Regulating mop, street cross sections, Spikovrk, Planning Associates.
Dever. Kohl and Partners
rAding foon standards. Ferrell Madden
22 ReguloIng mop, street doss seasons, Splkowski Planning Assocrtes,
Dover. Kohl and Partners
Building form standards, Ferrell Madden
31 Satellite photographs, Google/Digital Globe
32 Smear photograph, Google/DIgita'Globe, overlay by Steve Price
33 Sotelite photographs. Google/Digital Globe. ovedoys by Steve Price
34 Street doss sections, Spikowski Planning Asociates. Dover, Kohl and
Partner/ 35 Regulating mop, street doss sections. Spikosv:ki Planning A$soc.attl.
Dover. Kohl end Partners