Form-based Code - Identification

Identification

How does one determine if a development regulation is a form-based code and a well-crafted one? Form-based codes generally receive affirmative answers to all of the following questions:

• Is the code's focus primarily on regulating urban form and less on land use?
• Is the code regulatory rather than advisory?
• Does the code emphasize standards and parameters for form with predictable physical outcomes (build-to lines, frontage type requirements, etc.) rather than relying on numerical parameters (floor-area ratios, density, etc.) whose outcomes are impossible to predict?
• Does the code require private buildings to shape public space through the use of building form standards with specific requirements for building placement?
• Does the code promote and/or conserve an interconnected street network and pedestrian-scaled blocks?
• Are regulations and standards keyed to specific locations on a regulating plan?
• Are the diagrams in the code unambiguous, clearly labeled, and accurate in their presentation of spatial configurations?