PlaceMakers Toolbox

The Codes Study is a collaborative effort led by Hazel Borys, Emily Talen, and Matthew Lambert, and contributed to by many public and private planners, documenting the prevalence of form-based codes worldwide.

It tracks qualifying form-based codes, including SmartCodes and other Transect-based codes, that:

• Focus primarily on regulating urban form and less on land use
• Are regulatory rather than advisory
• 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
• Require private buildings to shape public space through the use of building form standards with specific requirements for building placement
• Promote and/or conserve an interconnected street network and pedestrian-scaled blocks
• Feature regulations and standards keyed to specific locations on a regulating plan
• Include unambiguous, clearly labeled, and accurate diagrams in their presentation of spatial configurations

As of its most recent update in June 2019, the study tracks 728 codes that meet the criteria established by the Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI), as well as an additional 17 form-based guidelines.

439 of these were adopted, while others were in progress. 91% of them were adopted since 2001.

The Codes 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 the numbers of FBCs, SCs, and TBCs, they are listed within the data as FB Guidelines.