Codes Set New Urbanism Forms (Market Forecast)

Have you ever been driving through an older, historic neighborhood or commercial area of a small town or city and thought to yourself, “There is something very special and beautiful about this old place that feels extremely comfortable. Why can’t we build neighborhoods and towns with that same level of comfort and quality that our grandparents grew up in?”
And a related question, “Why can’t we build neighborhoods, towns and new areas of our cities that our grandchildren will thank us for?”
A growing number of architects, planners, developers, public officials and other citizens have raised these questions and come to the conclusion that, no, we cannot build places like our great grandparents did as long as modern or conventional zoning practices prevent us from doing so.
This group of people, who call themselves “New Urbanists,” have set out to change the focus of conventional planning methods so that we can, indeed, re-create the comfort and beauty of our historical places while accommodating the modern technology of our current way of life.
In order to achieve their goals of promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl, the New Urbanists developed “form-based coding” as a way to help change the conventional approach to planning.
According to Peter Katz, the original director of the Congress of New Urbanism founded in 1993, form-based code, as its name suggests, “seeks to regulate the form of the built environment.”
Conventional zoning, in contrast, attempts to control land use and density but doesn’t address a city’s physical form other than very basic height, floor-area and setback limits on individual buildings.
In other words, conventional or use-based zoning primarily focuses on land use and density of individual parcels, while form-based coding emphasizes the streets, the public spaces formed by the buildings and the form of the buildings themselves.
In Northwest Arkansas, we see evidence of form-based codes in the Fayetteville City Plan 2025 and the Downtown Master Plan. With the work of the New Urbanist consulting firm, Dover, Kohl & Partners, the Arkansas Chapter of the American Planning Association awarded City Plan 2025 with the 2006 Achievement in Comprehensive Planning.
Fayetteville planners are looking at the possibility of extending types of form-based codes to other areas of the city such as the Walker Park district.
Peter Katz, president of the Form-Based Code Institute, presents the following advantages of form-based codes:
• Because form-based codes state what you want, rather than what you don’t, they can achieve a more predictable physical result.
• Form-based codes encourage public participation because they allow citizens to envision what will happen where — leading to a higher comfort level about greater density.
• Because they can regulate development at the scale of an individual building or lot, form-based codes encourage independent development by multiple property owners. This eliminates the need for large land assemblies and the mega-projects that are frequently proposed for such parcels. The built results of form-based codes 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.
• Form-based codes work well in established communities because they effectively define and codify a neighborhood’s existing design patterns. Informal building types can be easily replicated, promoting infill that is compatible with surrounding structures.
• Nonprofessionals find form-based co-des easier to use than conventional zoning ordinances because they are much shorter, more concise and organized for visual access and readability. This feature makes it easier for nonplanners to determine whether the codes have been followed.
• Form-based codes remove 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, leading to a less politicized planning process that can deliver huge savings in time and money and reduce the risk of taking challenges.
• Because they have the potential to level the regulatory playing field between city and suburb, form-based codes could play a major role in the recovery of vast areas of America’s urban landscape.
As with most innovations, there are potential drawbacks with form-based codes.
Community agreement on a physical vision takes time, resources and the patience of all parties involved. Once there is agreement on a shared vision, it must be converted into objective code provisions in the existing ordinances.
If this is not done, the envisioned plan has little chance of influencing the community’s future. One of the greatest challenges is that form-based codes require a new way of looking at zoning and this would, in turn, require a re-education of community leaders, planning staff, engineers, developers and citizens in general.
The big question for the real estate industry is whether or not the New Urbanist development patterns encouraged by form-based codes will grow in demand.
According to the New Urban News, a recent report released by GfK Roper consulting firm stated that new urban neighborhoods are the most desirable areas in which to buy homes. Because New Urbanist communities offer an alternative to sprawl, encourage walking and strike a development balance between homes, schools and businesses, people find them desirable.
The New Urban News cites the research by Robert Charles Lesser & Co. real estate consultants that this preference appears to be on the rise, as indicated by the GfK Roper study, which finds that so-called “influential” people like many aspects of New Urbanism.
According to the Roper study, “only 17 percent of Americans think that gates are part of an ideal neighborhood, about half as many as thought so in the mid-1990s. More people are valuing elements that point toward smart growth, such as walking distance to small shops, and inclusion of parks, civic buildings, and churches.”
Furthermore, the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America report that preferences for specific smart-growth traits range from 40 percent to 70 percent.
Should a trend for the demand of New Urban neighborhoods continue, city and town officials in Northwest Arkansas would do well to learn more about form-based codes and see if they would be appropriate for their communities.

(Paul Justus is a regional planner with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. He may be reached at [email protected].)