Code Study & Resources

• Codes Study
• Economic Impacts
• Recommended Books
• Articles
• Links

The Codes Study is a collaborative effort led by Hazel Borys and Emily Talen, contributed to by many public and private planners. As of August 2010, we've tracked 332 codes that meet FBCI criteria, plus additional 11 form-based guidelines are listed. 101 of these are adopted, with others in progress. Please contact us with updates, or to add new initiatives. Click blue text within the full Codes Study to go to project pages and to view codes.

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• 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 (FAR, 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?
• If you have additional criteria you feel should be on this list, contact us.

The Code Study also tracks major initiatives and guidelines that may assist in the formulation of form-based codes. While these may not meet FBCI criteria and do not count toward numbers of SCs, TBCs, and FBCs, they are listed as FB Guidelines.

Form-based code specific reading

The Smart Growth Manual
Andrés Duany, Jeff Speck, with Mike Lydon | McGraw-Hill, 2009
Challenges and best practices for urban development

SmartCode and Manual
Andrés Duany, Sandy Sorlien, Bill Wright | New Urban News, 2008
Detailed notes explaining each section of the SmartCode

The SmartCode Solution to Sprawl
Chad Emerson | Environmental Law Institute, 2007
Practical examination of the SmartCode

Sprawl Repair Manual
Galina Tachieva | Island Press, 2010
Companion to SmartCode Sprawl Repair Module

Retrofitting Suburbia
Ellen Dunham-Jones, June Williamson | Wiley, 2008
Urban design solutions for redesigning suburbs

Sustainable Urbanism
Doug Farr | Wiley, 2007
Companion to SmartCode Sustainable Urbanism Modules

Urban and Sustainable Development
Daniel K. Slone, Doris S. Goldstein, Andrew Gowder | Wiley, 2008
Legal guide for planners, developers and architects

Form Based Codes
Daniel G. Parolek, Karen Parolek, Paul Crawford | Wiley, 2008
A guide for planners, urban designers, municipalities, and developers

The philosophy upon which form-based codes stand

The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs | Modern Library, 1993
"Perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning." -New York Times

A Pattern Language
Christopher Alexander | Oxford, 1977
250 patterns consisting of a design problems and solutions

The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander | Oxford, 1979
Architectural theory and design

The Architecture of Community
Leon Krier | Island Press, 2009
Indispensable beacon of principle and methodology

Suburban Nation
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck | North Point, 2001
The rise of sprawl and the decline of the American dream

Charter of the New Urbanism
Congress for the New Urbanism | CNU, 1996
Principles of urbanism

Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism
Congress for the New Urbanism | CNU, 2009
Principles of sustainable urbanism

The Language of Towns & Cities
Dhiru Thadani | Rizzoli, 2010
Exquisitely illustrated urban planning & design dictionary

The Original Green
Stephen A. Mouzon | New Urban Guild, 2010
Unlocking the mystery of true sustainability

The Elusive City
Jonathan Barnett | Icon, 1987
History of planning since the 18th Century

Solving Sprawl
F. Kaid Benfield | Island Press, 2003
Models of Smart Growth in communities across America

The New Transit Town
Hank Dittmar, Gloria Ohland | Island Press, 2003
Best practices In Transit-Oriented Development

Place Making
Charles Bohl | Urban Land Institute, 2002
Developing town centers , main streets, and urban villages

The Next American Metropolis
Peter Calthorpe | Princeton Architectural Press, 1995
Manual on regional planning technique

The Long Emergency
James Howard Kunstler | Grove Press, 2006
Surviving the end of oil, climate change, and other converging catastrophes of the 21st century

The Geography of Nowhere
James Howard Kunstler | Free Press, 1994
The rise and decline of America's man-made landscape

The Wealth of Cities
John Norquist | Basic Books, 1999
Revitalizing the centers of American life

The Great Good Place
Ray Oldenberg | Da Capo Press, 1999
Cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community

American Architecture and Urbanism
Vincent Scully | Henry Holt & Co, 1988
History on architecture and planning

Greyfields to Greenfields
Lee Sobel | CNU, 2002
Dead malls become living neighborhoods

The New Civic Art
Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Robert Alminana | Rizzoli, 2003
Encyclopedic reference book on the art and science of urban planning

New Urbanism & American Planning
Emily Talen | Taylor & Francis, 2007
Survey of the last hundred years of urbanist ideals and cultures

New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide
Robert Steuteville, Philip Langdon | New Urban News, annual
Sourcebook on the ideas and techniques of the New Urbanism

A Living Tradition
Steve Mouzon | New Urban Guild Foundation, 2007
Architectural traditions of the Bahamas over the past four centuries

Light Imprint Handbook
Thomas Low | Civic by Design, 2010
Sustainable stormwater and natural drainage practices in community design

The Option of Urbanism
Christopher Leinberger | Island Press, 2009
The developer and financier's perspective on sustainable urbanism