Metrocoalescence presents a vision and a practical guide for a new way of regulating development 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. The book offers new and innovative strategies for creating an adaptive, responsive regulatory system that recognizes the complex nature of the city.

These strategies will help cities and counties address the housing crisis and help us incrementally improve our urbanism in places where it is lacking. Five key chapters in the book include:f(z) Functional ZoningA framework for zoning that regulates the rate of change rather than the finished state of each city block.

It is an incremental framework that ensures that some additional housing and new development is always permitted in each neighborhood. As conditions change, development rights keep up with existing conditions -- protecting people from drastic change, but allowing incremental increases in the intensity of development.

A Theory for PlazasHow to think about, design, and incorporate plazas into contemporary city planning. Evolving Transportation NetworksAn adaptive strategy for making suburban neighborhoods with long blocks more permeable and walkable.

Village-Oriented DevelopmentAn approach for rural areas to enable and encourage the village as a land use pattern and as an alternative to rural sprawl. Vernacular ResonanceAn architectural and design methodology to achieve aesthetic outcomes that align with a community’s character and contribute to placemaking and pedestrian-oriented design.

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