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is the ratio of allowable building area to lot size; a two-story building covering half its lot would have an F.A.R. of 1.0.) F.A.R. is a zoning tool that makes it easy to calculate the value of a property based on its development capacity, but it says nothing about whether that property will hold a row house or a dingbat—it’s only a number. In contrast, a height limit—given in stories rather than feet, to encourage generous ceiling heights—gives priority to a specific physical result. As with most distinctions outlined here, the objective of these new codes is to complement planning—the cause of surprisingly unpredictable results—with something more effective, something called design. Interestingly, F.A.R. presents an additional problem in that, in combination with a standardized setback requirement, it privileges large-lot development. Two 5,000-square-foot lots are inferior to a single 10,000-square-foot lot in terms of their resulting F.A.R. capacity, which discourages the involvement of small-scale developers downtown. This scenario leads cities to become dependent upon a few large speculative developers rather than on a diversity of local property owners.

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Specifically, physically based zoning codes such as these require a well-articulated vision of what the city is to be, rather than an acquiescence to the ad hoc results of laissez faire. Fortunately, some cities are beginning to emerge from a prolonged crisis of confidence in which they abdicated initiative to market forces rather than providing a predictable environment for the market to thrive in.

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Ideally, each developer submittal should be handled by a single contact, and all of the necessary approvals should be integrated into a single process, such that zoning, architectural, historic preservation, public works, environmental, and all other reviews occur simultaneously.

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Of course, with enough popular support, even officially unsuccessful plans can have a powerful impact. Consensus-driven master plans, supported by an activist citizenry, have been known to be effective development guides even without gaining official status. Such was the case in the historic district of Miami’s South Beach, where a preservation master plan that was never passed by the City Commission nevertheless served as an effective guide for two decades of Art Deco restoration.

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Recent Supreme Court decisions have made it clear that property rights are held in greater esteem than good planning. While limiting the development of certain private lands may be in the public interest, many attempts to do so have been labeled as “takings,” entitling the landowner to reimbursement equal to lost revenue.

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Lessening the negative impacts of growth is reason enough to do suburban work, but, happily, this work has produced some unintended positive consequences in the inner city as well. Two stories are fairly typical: In central Cleveland, an old African American neighborhood that was largely abandoned—and had been slated for demolition—was considering how it might rebuild. The local Neighborhood Progress Foundation visited us and told us about their vision for their community: Seaside. Clearly, Seaside was not appropriate to the local climate or building tradition, and what they ended up with was Cleveland. But their enthusiasm for the traditional organizational principles that Seaside embodies motivated them to build eighty-one new houses that were compatible in scale and style to the neighborhood’s remaining building fabric.

In Gaithersburg, Maryland, Mayor Ed Bohrer, who had presided over the growth of Kentlands and insisted that it be built to the highest standard, asked his community why its old downtown was not of equal quality. At his recommendation, the city commissioned a master plan for its main street that is guiding a revitalization of downtown Gaithersburg. Perhaps unsurprisingly, much new urban inner-city work is completed for municipalities that have witnessed the popularity of neotraditional greenfield projects.

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In many German cities, the local city government