Metrocoalescence presents a vision and a practical guide for a new way of regulating development that treats the city as a complex, self-organizing system. It proposes new tools to help solve the housing crisis, create better urban form, more vibrant and walkable cities, and mitigate some of the ways traditional zoning has distorted markets and contributed to urban and rural sprawl.
f(z) Functional Zoning
A framework for zoning that regulates the rate of change rather than the finished state of each city block. Includes a performance-based approach to regulating uses by scale rather than category of use. The scale of projects allowed by-right increases as a function of existing conditions.
A Theory for Plazas
How to think about, design, and incorporate plazas into contemporary city planning.
Evolving Transportation Networks
An adaptive strategy for making suburban neighborhoods with long blocks more permeable and walkable.
Village-Oriented Development
An approach for rural areas to enable and encourage the village as a land use pattern and as an alternative to rural sprawl.
Vernacular Resonance
An architectural and design methodology to achieve aesthetic outcomes that align with a community's character and contribute to placemaking and pedestrian-oriented design.