Standards and codes dictate virtually all aspects of urban
development. The same standards for subdividing land, grading,
laying streets and utilities, and configuring rights-of-way and
street widths to accommodate cars (rather than pedestrians) have
been adopted in many areas of the world regardless of variations in
local environments. In The Code of the City, Eran Ben-Joseph
examines the relationship between standards and place making. He
traces the evolution of codes and standards and analyzes their
impact on the modern city and its suburbs, arguing that it is time
for development regulations to reflect site-specific and localized
physical design.Standards and codes were meant to bring order and
safety to the city building process. But now, Ben-Joseph argues,
these accumulated rules and their widespread application illustrate
a disconnect between the original rationale for their existence and
their actual effect on the natural and human environment. To
discover how this separation of codes from local conditions came
about, he looks at the origins of urban standards and their use,
from early civilization through the rapid urbanization of the
nineteenth century. He provides examples that demonstrate how
standards have shaped residential developments and reshaped the
natural landscape. And he considers alternatives for the future --
innovation and de facto deregulation by private developers, new
design technologies, and place-based regulations reflecting local
conditions. Standards, writes Ben-Joseph, will continue to shape
the built environment, but they must be flexible enough to allow
for innovation and contribute to the development of sustainable and
desirable communities.
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