IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rjpaxx/v83y2017i4p346-364.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Form-Based Codes for Zoning Reform to Promote Sustainable Development: Insights From Cities in Southern California

Author

Listed:
  • Ajay Garde
  • Cecilia Kim

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Advocates of form-based codes contend that these zoning regulations go beyond conventional zoning regulations in promoting sustainable development. We examine the extent to which form-based codes adopted by California cities differ from conventional zoning regulations in integrating 41 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development sustainability criteria (measured by the total number of criteria and the strength of each criterion included in regulations) using a multiple-case study of 26 cities in Southern California. We examine whether and how form-based codes adopted for specific development areas differ from the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and from the current conventional zoning regulations of matched cities. We find considerable variation among cities: Not all form-based codes in our study include more sustainability criteria to a stronger degree than conventional zoning regulations, but a) most form-based codes include more sustainability criteria than the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and those of matched cities, and b) the strongest form-based codes include more sustainability criteria to a stronger degree than the conventional zoning regulations they replaced and those of matched cities. We lack sufficient information to generalize; California, moreover, has many state laws requiring sustainable development. Our findings provide valuable insight for cities considering zoning reform to increase the sustainability of development.Takeaway for practice: Our findings suggest that form-based and conventional zoning regulations can each help cities integrate sustainability criteria into their development regulations. Our research offers positive examples of best practice in zoning reform and highlights missed opportunities for creating more sustainable communities. Cities considering zoning reform can consider these opportunities when reforming their codes to be more supportive of sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Ajay Garde & Cecilia Kim, 2017. "Form-Based Codes for Zoning Reform to Promote Sustainable Development: Insights From Cities in Southern California," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(4), pages 346-364, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:83:y:2017:i:4:p:346-364
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2017.1364974
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01944363.2017.1364974
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01944363.2017.1364974?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ajay Garde, 2020. "New Urbanism: Past, Present, and Future," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 453-463.
    2. Dan Trudeau, 2020. "Disparate Projects, Coherent Practices: Constructing New Urbanism through the Charter Awards," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 429-440.
    3. Danielle Spurlock & Philip Berke, 2022. "Intention and Action: Evaluating the Policy Antecedents of Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:83:y:2017:i:4:p:346-364. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rjpa20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.