The Rise of the Form-Based Code

"Recent progress includes the drafting of a new zoning code for Denver, Colorado, which aims at replacing a code that has been repeatedly patched during its 53-year existence. The code being proposed in Denver pays close attention to neighborhood context. It follows by a few months the adoption of a new code in Miami, which may be implemented May 20.

FBCs are on the rise in the Pacific Rim and in Europe, too. In March, Andres Duany conducted three 'test charrettes' in Scotland. Through the Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative, Chief Planner Jim Mackinnon is setting up what Duany describes as 'an entirely new planning system' for that country."

Miami is at the forefront of this trend, after becoming the biggest American city to adopt a citywide form-based code. Many other smaller cities are using form-based codes as a way to spur economic development.