In form-based zoning, what is the primary focus relative to traditional Euclidean zoning?

• A. Regulating land-use patterns.
• B. Regulating building form, scale, and the public realm rather than land-use separation.
• C. Encouraging car-centric design.
• D. Preserving agricultural land only.

Answer: (B)

In form-based zoning, the focus is on the physical form of development and how it relates to streets and the public realm. The code emphasizes how a building sits on the lot, its massing and scale, and how the street edge and public spaces—sidewalks, street trees, lighting, entrances—read from the public sidewalk. The goal is a predictable, walkable street network and human-scale places, achieved through regulating plans and standards that govern building placement, frontage, frontages, and the built environment, rather than dictating what land uses must be where.

This contrasts with traditional Euclidean zoning, which centers on separating land uses and regulating what uses can occur where. The other options describe aspects that aren’t the core aim of form-based zoning: design for car-centric layouts, or preserving agricultural land only, or simply regulating land-use patterns.