The Codes

Titlesort icon Authorsort icon Datesort icon Placesort icon Description
A Design Primer for Cities and Towns Anne Mackin and Alex Krieger 1989 United States This is a manual directed at a community audience. It gives information on town planning and design, with suggestions for how communities can get the urbanism they desire.
A Landscape of Choice The Growth Alternatives Alliance 1998 United States - Fresno County, CA A document that offers strategies, principles, and policy recommendations for a growing agricultural region.
A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein et.al. 1977 United States This is one of the first attempts at a universal code for urbanism. It consists of a vocabulary of 'patterns'. Some are supportive of neighborhood structure.
Building Act of London William Meymott 1774 England - London A comprehensive set of building regulations covering the whole built-up area that forced conformity on artisan builders.
Building Livable Communities: A Policymaker's Guide to Transit-Oriented Development Judy Corbett and Paul Zykofsky 1996 United States This is a manual that provides the rationale, guidelines, implementation tools, checklists, and case studies for transit-oriented development.
Building with Nantucket in Mind: Guidelines for Protecting the Historic Architecture and Landscape of Nantucket Island J. Christopher Lang 1995 United States - Nantucket Island, MA A design manual providing guidelines for historic preservation and for traditional building design.
Celebrating Our Heritage, Planning Our Future Belmont Planning Department/Duany Plater-Zyberk 1995 United States - Belmont, CA This ordinance includes a traditional neighborhood district.
Charte Architecturale de Rochefort 1981 France This manual seeks to guide the character of new development in Rochefort through an analysis of its historical patterns of building.
City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village David Sucher 2003 United States This is a manual for citizen-participants in the public process of planning.
City of Winter Springs Town Center District Code Dover, Kohl & Partners 2000 United States - Winter Springs, FL This is a code that governs street design, parking, and building relationships to parks and classes of streets as well as signage and architectural elements. Development under the code is subject to design review.
Commons Act 1879 Parliament 1879 England - London Surplus rents (profits) from recreation grounds can only be applied to improvements of recreation grounds in that neighborhood, maintaining that commons, or purchasing additional land for recreation grounds in that neighborhood.
Cordova Town Design Guidelines Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Inc. 1994 United States - Cordova, TN This is four sheets showing site planning and architectural design guidelines.
Corymbia Woods Concept Master Plan & Design Code Roberts Day 2008 Australia - Queensland Approved by the Ipswich City Council in Queensland, AU, the Corymbia Woods Design Code is a transect based code which unifies the standards for public streetscape and private domain on a single page.
Downtown Los Angeles Strategic Plan Moule & Polyzoides, Plater-Zyberk, Solomon, et al. 1997 United States - Los Angeles, CA This is not a code but a strategic plan, but has elements that could easily be transformed into a code. It applies aspects of a neighborhood system on an existing downtown.
Forest Hills Gardens Sage Foundation Homes Company 1911 United States - Queens, NY This declaration comprises restrictions set for the subdivision developments of Forest Hills in Queens.
Hampstead Garden Suburb Act The Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust 1906 England - London The act was passed to overcome the restrictions imposed by the bye-laws regulated the neighborhood character by defining widths of roads and drives, relationships of houses with each other, and their distance to roads, etc.
Making House Home Todd Rhoades, et.al. Design Center for American Urban Landscape 1996 United States This is an accessible manual addressing neighborhood and block level factors of quality residential environments. Provides site evaluation and site design guidelines.
Model Land Development Code for Florida Cities and Counties Center For Governmental Responsibility, U. of Florida & Henigar and Ray Engineering Associates 1989 United States - Florida This is a model development code developed to assist local governments complying with Florida's growth management laws. It includes certain development bonuses within mixed use and urban districts and provides a traditional neighborhood district intended as a floating zone.
New Orleans Homebuilt Housing Act Andres Duany 2006 United States - New Orleans, LA A code proposal by A. Duany to restore New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Onondaga County Settlement Plan Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company 1999 United States - New York A charrette report describing twelve guidelines for a county plan.
Orlando Naval Training Center Planned Development Application Orlando NTC Partners 1998 United States - Orlando, FL This is an application for a master planned redevelopment of a decommissioned naval center.
Orlando, Florida City Plan Harlan, Bartholomew & Associates 1926 United States - Orlando, FL This is an early plan for Orlando, FL, fairly typical of Bartholomew's work. It includes some ordinances for development.
Performance Zoning Lane Kendig with Susan Connor, Cranston Byrd, and Judy Heyman 1980 United States This is the manual that introduced the concept of performance zoning. It includes a complete model ordinance.
Planning Neighborhoods for Small Houses Federal Housing Administration 1938 United States This bulletin attempts to set forth planning principles to be followed for neighborhoods that are financially secure and attractive as well as enjoyable and satisfying. Of specific concern are neighborhoods for low priced dwellings.
Planning Profitable Neighborhoods Federal Housing Administration 1938 United States These principles were presented as the fundamental principles and standards for developers to make communities more desirable places. They regulate street layouts as well as land uses in neighborhoods.
Responsive Environments Ian Bentley, Alan Alcock, Sue McGlynn, Paul Murrain, Graham Smith 1985 England This is a manual for professional planners and designers. Its chapters offer principles concerning permeability, variety, robustness, visual appropriateness, richness, and personalization.
Rural Village Ordinance Richard Bono and Richard Calderon 1991 United States - Loudon County, VA This is an ordinance for the creation of rural villages along with preservation of outlying rural lands.
San Francisco Residential Design Guidelines Dept. of City Planning, San Francisco 2003 United States - San Francisco, CA These Guidelines include principles of urban design to maintain neighborhood identity, preserve historic resources, and enhance the City of San Francisco and its residential neighborhoods.
Seaside Urban Code Duany, A. & Plater-Zyberk, E. 1986 United States - Seaside, FL A code prescribing the placing of buildings for the Town of Seaside, Florida--the first new town to be built successfully in the United States in over fifty years. This code includes setbacks, lots lines, yards, porches and balconies, and parking.
SmartCode Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company (DPZ) 2003 United States "The SmartCode is a model transect-based development code available for all scales of planning, from the region to the community to the block and building. The code is intended for local calibration to your town or neighborhood. As a form-based code, the SmartCode keeps towns compact and rural lands open, while reforming the destructive sprawl-producing patterns of separated use zoning" (SmartCode Central)
Southeast Orlando Development Plan: Development Guidelines and Standards Calthorpe Associates 1997 United States - Orlando, FL Planning and development guidelines for community development in Southeast Orlando.
Successful Subdivisions Federal Housing Administration 1940 United States This bulletin attempts to set forth planning principles for subdivisions for low-cost houses to provide economy and protection against neighborhood blight. These principles are stated to be adjustable to meet various site conditions.
Sustainable Suburb Study Calgary Planning and Building Department Staff 1995 Calgary, Canada This document stops short of being a code, for political reasons intentionally remaining a guideline. It strongly enforces the neighborhood structure.
The Ahwahnee Principles Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, et.al. 1991 United States These are principles indistinguishable from a checklist. The 23 principles could easily become a code as if structured with activating language. This document advocates the rethinking of our patterns of development. It is supportive of neighborhood structure.
The Ahwahnee Principles for Smart Economic Development Rick Cole, Trish Kelly, and Judy Corbett with Sharon Sprowls 2001 United States Argues for a 'third wave' of economic development, working on holistic community building strategies in order to sustain a community's economic health. It lists fourteen principles, and chapters provide recommendations and case studies for each.
The Connected City Robert Cowan 1997 England This is a pamphlet directed at citizens. It expresses the familiar intent of reforming conventional suburban development practices to make urbanism more livable.
The Growth Management Handbook Samuel Hamill Jr., John Keene, David Kinsey, and Roger Lewis 1989 United States This is a manual for planners writing ordinances. It advocates a 'managed growth' philosophy compatible with the design aspects of neighborhood structure.
The Jordan Tract Dover, Kohl & Duany Plater-Zyberk 1995 United States - Mount Pleasant, SC A code for neighborhood development
The Law for Regulating Streets and Water Courses in the Citys and Towns of This Government Legislature of Pennsylvania 1698 United States - Philadelphia, PA This code regulates maintenance of urban infrastructure.
The London Building Acts Fletcher, Banister 1894-1914 England - London The London building acts, including the London building act, 1894; the amendment acts of 1898 and 1905; L.C.C. general power acts, 1908 and 1909; the Cinematograph act, 1909; Town planning act, etc.; a tect-book on the law relating to building in the metropolis, for the use of acrchitects, surveyors, builders, etc. together with the current by-laws, standing orders, and regulations of the London County council, the corporation of the city of London.
The Neighborhood Model: Building Block for the Development Areas Torti Gallas and Partners, et.al. 2000 United States- County of Albermarle, VA This is a county plan that draws on New Urbanist principles. It includes concepts, principles, examples, and guidelines for implementation.
The Neighborhood Unit Clarence Perry 1929 United States - New York These sections present principles and schemes for residential districts with different characters. Perry describes how “the neighborhood unit” should look like for a fulfilling community.
The Subdivision and Site Plan Handbook David Listokin and Carole Walker 1989 United States - New Jersey This was a model ordinance for the State of New Jersey, republished for a national target audience.
The Zahringer Foundations The Zahringer Family 1122 Germany 1. market thoroughfare must be 75-100 ft. wide and run the length of town gates 2. absence of other interior open spaces 3. the homestead was the planning module 4. creation of property taxation units 5. grid iron development with harmonic proportions (2:3 and 3:5) 6. public buildings kept separate from the main street 7. fortresses at corners and side walls 8. introduction of a sewage system
Traditional Village Ordinance Correa, Valle & Valle 1997 United States - Monroe County, FL This is a TND ordinance written for small villages. There is no other model except for neighborhoods here.
Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines Calthorpe Associates 1992 United States - San Diego, CA This is a complete TOD ordinance. Each page has a code element, discussion, and justification. The core area is compatible with neighborhood provisions.
Urban Design Guidelines for the Redevelopment of the Naval Training Center Main Base A. Nelessen Associates et.al. 1997 United States - Orlando, FL Extensive urban design guidelines for large-scale redevelopment project.
Vision/Reality: Strategies for Community Change Calthorpe, et.al. 1994 United States This is a HUD manual that provides information to local community partners. It explains neighborhood concepts. It is not a code.
Visions for a New American Dream Anton C. Nelessen 1994 United States This is a manual for the planning and design of small communities. It is supportive of neighborhood structure. The book moves from concept to principles to giving a sample ordinance.
Yountville Design Document Solomon, Inc. 1992 United States - Yountville, CA A document that provides design standards from neighborhood to building level, even prescribing specific sites.