What is the primary way form-based zoning differs from traditional zoning?

• A. It regulates land-use categories and zoning districts.
• B. It ensures buildings respond to street and public realm as a whole, focusing on form and urban design rather than strict land-use separation.
• C. It eliminates all zoning controls.
• D. It requires identical building heights citywide.

Answer: (B)

Form-based zoning centers on how a building relates to the street and the public realm. It uses design and form to shape the look, feel, and walkability of streets—focusing on building placement, massing, streetscape continuity, and architectural details—rather than simply deciding what uses are allowed. This creates a coherent urban form where the public realm is the primary guide for development, even if uses are mixed.

Traditional zoning, by contrast, governs development mainly through land-use categories and the separation of uses, with standards that emphasize what activities can occur in a zone rather than how the building or street will look and function together. The correct statement captures this shift toward form and urban design over strict use separation.

The other options don’t fit because form-based codes don’t eliminate zoning controls, don’t require identical building heights citywide, and do not primarily regulate land-use categories in the way traditional zoning does.