All the principle steps brought to life by whimsical creatures.

Frogs and the Ballet

Children's Books

Elliott, Donald L.

Animals

Gambit

A Better Way to Zone: Ten Principles to Create More Livable Cities

Nearly all large American cities rely on zoning to regulate land use. According to Donald L. Elliott, however, zoning often discourages the very development that bigger cities need and want. In fact, Elliott thinks that zoning has become so complex that it is often dysfunctional and in desperate need of an overhaul. A Better Way to Zone explains precisely what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed. A Better Way to Zone explores the constitutional and legal framework of zoning, its evolution over the course of the twentieth century, the reasons behind major reform efforts of the past, and the adverse impacts of most current city zoning systems. To unravel what has gone wrong, Elliott identifies several assumptions behind early zoning that no longer hold true, four new land use drivers that have emerged since zoning began, and basic elements of good urban governance that are violated by prevailing forms of zoning. With insight and clarity, Elliott then identifies ten sound principles for change that would avoid these mistakes, produce more livable cities, and make zoning simpler to understand and use. He also proposes five practical steps to get started on the road to zoning reform. While recent discussion of zoning has focused on how cities should look, A Better Way to Zone does not follow that trend. Although New Urbanist tools, form-based zoning, and the SmartCode are making headlines both within and outside the planning profession, Elliott believes that each has limitations as a general approach to big city zoning. While all three trends include innovations that the profession badly needs, they are sometimes misapplied to situations where they do not work well. In contrast, A Better Way to Zone provides a vision of the future of zoning that is not tied to a particular picture of how cities should look, but is instead based on how cities should operate.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Island Press

From the Euclidean box to the SmartCode, planners have a wide range of tools for shaping the form of cities and how they function. This practical report looks at six ways cities have adopted "form-based" zoning tools and the results that followed. Case studies describe the pros, cons, and consequences of form-based zoning regulations in Austin, Texas; Mooresville, North Carolina; Denver; Arlington, Virginia; Livermore, California; and Miami. Interviews with planners in each community give real-world perspectives on choosing, implementing, and evaluating form controls. Because form doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the report also looks at the planning challenges of housing affordability, carbon emissions, aging populations, and preservation. Which form controls support positive change in these areas―and which work against it? Lessons learned from cities across the country offer guidance for planners facing these challenges in their own communities.

The Rules that Shape Urban Form

Goebel, Matthew

Meadows, Chad B

Routledge

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Books by Elliott, Donald L.