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Project Description and Scope

The Downtown Phoenix Urban Form Project is a collaborative process to revise downtown zoning, to shape future growth and to help realize the city's vision for a livelier, more integrated and sustainable downtown. The project is a product of Downtown Phoenix: A Strategic Vision and Blueprint for the Future , that was adopted by the City Council in December 2004. The Strategic Vision and Blueprint was prepared through a year-long process that invited residents to share their values visions and concerns for downtown.

Through that process, three common principles emerged to give direction to the planning process. These principles, as cited in the Strategic Vision and Blueprint are: Community, Connectivity and Integration. Given these principles, Phoenix identified seven priority themes: Knowledge Anchors; Downtown Living; Great Neighborhoods; Arts and Entertainment Hub; Distinctive Shopping; Great Places/Great Spaces; and The Connected Oasis.

To implement the Strategic Vision and Blueprint, the Downtown Phoenix Urban Form Project is charged with the development of the Downtown Phoenix Plan and the Form-Based Code, a new zoning ordinance for downtown.

Downtown Phoenix Plan

The plan is the foundation for the goals, policies and strategies that will help shape the vision of a pedestrian-oriented, dynamic urban environment that includes biomedical, educational and business centers as acknowledged by the Strategic Vision and Blueprint.

The key components identified for each of the eight chapters in the plan are: Downtown Vision, Downtown Growth, The Connected Oasis, Circulation and Parking Plan, Downtown Character Areas, Urban Form Plan, Form-Based Code and Implementation. The plan reviews existing conditions, analyzes future needs, and establishes goals and policies for the future growth of downtown.

Form-Based Code

In order to implement the vision, policies and strategies have to be translated into standards that will help guide development in downtown.

The new code will replace the existing zoning districts and overlays, with the exception of the Historic Preservation Overlay, which will remain in place. Unlike the current zoning that segregates uses, the Form-Based Code was created to respond to the needs of an urban, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use environment.