Do you have a code to submit to this website?
We are relying on others for code material. Our goal is to have codes from all time periods and all parts of globe – a collaborative web site that anyone can contribute to.
We hope you will contribute your favorite code and help us make this website a comprehensive source for code material.
Please e-mail all codes to Emily Talen.
What is a code?
A basic complication of code history is the ability to understand what is meant by a “code”, and whether it differs substantively from a regulation, law, legislative act, or even a plan or design guideline. There is no singular meaning. Carmona, Marshall and Stevens in “Design codes: Their use and potential” (Progress in Planning 65, 4: 209-289) uncovered thirteen separate definitions of what is meant by a “design code”. A second issue concerns legal authority, which, although most often acquired from government, could also be derived from monarchs, religious leaders, or even social and cultural customs. There is also the question of timing and scale. Codes may be concerned with small scale, incremental change at the parcel or individual building level, or they may apply to much larger areas, such as the layout of entire towns.
We take a broad view of what is meant by a “code”. Our main interest is in codes that 1) were/are enforceable (as opposed to utopian or unrealized plans), and 2) were/are directed at prescribing the form of cities.