SmartCode
The Plaza: What Makes a Community Living Room?
The Plaza can behave as the community living room. Why is this so hard to get right in post-WWII U.S.?
El Paso Approves Second 'SmartCode' Development
The El Paso City Council approved a $100 million SmartCode development.
Berliner Kinder: Berlin and its 'Playborhoods'
Are you thinking about playborhoods, playsheds, and free-range kids? Berlin's Kolle 37 hits it out of the park. Literally.
Artisan Manufacturing Mixes Uses with Residential
Looking to integrate artisan manufacturing into a residential neighborhood? Berlin examples provide a few pointers, via Hazel Borys.
Walkability, But Hold the Red Tape
Urbanists must adopt less bureaucratic approaches so that the next generation can build and grow the economy, Andres Duany says. Hence the proliferation of “lean” codes that emphasize only the essentials of shaping community.
London’s Lived-In Look
London calling! PlaceMaker Hazel Borys fuses her passions for great cities, efficient transit, civic art and form-based coding into one lavishly documented examination of the English capital. Cheers, mates!
Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 04: Don’t Capture the Character
Form-based codes extract the DNA of the desired local character, and enable it by right. Hazel Borys talks about how to get the numbers right in this week's Back of the Envelope.
Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 03: Misapply the Transect
On 50th anniversary of the Jetsons, Hazel Borys celebrates city planning that isn't pie in the sky, but instead lets us cast a shadow.
Ways to Fail at Form-Based Codes 02: Make it Mandatory Citywide
Ambition is good, but don't bite off more than you can chew. Hazel Borys applies this valuable lesson to form-based codes.
Picture It: Coding for Character
Get lost in the details when explaining zoning reform? Hazel Borys puts forth a pictorial review that helps.
What Drives People?
Hazel Borys argues that "the payback of livable places really can’t be calculated in dollars, or pounds of fat or carbon, or even hours. The payback of place is passion."
Building Typology as One Solution to Visualizing and Embracing Density
While raw density numbers are sure to pick a fight, discussing character-based building typologies one neighborhood at a time may help find common ground.
Rules for Planning Successful Retail Developments
Hazel Borys discusses how several key form-based guidelines for retail can encourage success in the most risky of all development types.
Reintroducing Industry to the City
Industrial uses have long been banished to the edges -- but recently savvy cities are seeing the value of making them walkable again.
Urban Village Rising in El Paso
Montecillo, a 293-acre 'urban village', is the first development to take advantage of El Paso's new Smart Code. The project launched in May, and the developer is already preparing to get Phase 2 off the ground.
Religion and Neighborliness
Ben Brown reads Robert Putnam's new book, which explores the ways in which religion in the U.S. causes greater intolerance but simultaneously a greater civic engagement and likelihood of helping others through charitable acts.
It Takes A Village, But Walmart Won't Bite
In Pass Christian, Mississippi, it seemed WalMart was on board for a village-style, mixed-use development that would include one of their stores. That is, until Walmart brass heard about the project.
Critics May Miss The Green Point of the SmartCode
Communities aren't going to get a green code implemented, or any code, without that code appealing to developers, says Sandy Sorlien. They're building our new sustainable places and infilling our old ones.
Buffalo Adopting SmartCode
Commissioner of Economic Development Brian Reilly makes the case to overhaul the city's 1951 zoning ordinance to a form-based SmartCode.
Rewiring America's 'Energy Crisis'
In a much discussed speech, ‘A Generational Challenge to Repower America,’ Al Gore challenged America to hit the off-switch on foreign oil and re-power itself with home-grown carbon-free energy– namely wind, solar and geothermal. The predicted outcome Gore said would be a bold, energy independent nation ready to lead the world into the 21st century. However, such an effort, he asserted, would require “commitment to changing not just light bulbs, but laws. And Laws will only change with leadership.”
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA)
Ada County Highway District
Charles County Government
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
