If you’ve ever stood on a busy sidewalk in a mid-sized North American city, watching a food truck pull up next to a low-rise residential building, a transit stop, and a small neighborhood library, you’ve witnessed a practice that’s shaped almost every corner of modern urban life: planning by type. For 12 years, I’ve run a small manufacturing operation that supplies materials and components explicitly designed for “by type” urban planning frameworks, and over that time, I’ve fielded hundreds of questions from developers, city planners, and even curious residents asking a simple, often misunderstood, question: Is “by type” actually used in urban planning? The short answer is yes—more than most people realize. The longer answer, which I’ve learned through decades of on-the-ground work, is that it’s less a rigid rule and more a flexible tool that’s evolved dramatically to address some of the most urgent challenges our cities face today. By Type
To unpack this, we first have to define what “by type” planning even means. At its core, it’s a zoning and design framework that sorts urban land uses, building types, and public spaces into distinct categories, each with its own set of rules for size, height, density, and allowed activities. For example, a residential type might include single-family homes, apartment buildings, and assisted living facilities; a commercial type might cover corner stores, grocery stores, and office buildings; and a public type might include parks, schools, and transit stations. The idea dates back to early 20th century zoning reforms, most notably the 1916 New York City Zoning Resolution, which was the first major U.S. plan to separate industrial uses from residential neighborhoods to curb pollution and overcrowding. Back then, it was a reaction to the chaos of the industrial era, when factory smokestacks loomed over tenement housing and there was no structure to keep incompatible uses apart.
But here’s what many people don’t know: “by type” planning wasn’t just a 1900s invention. It went through a major shift in the 1950s and 60s, when urban renewal projects across the U.S. used “by type” to create segregated, car-centric zones—think of a stretch of highway cutting through a residential neighborhood, or a downtown core that’s only for offices and empty after 5 PM. That era of “by type” planning got a bad rap, and rightfully so. It created disconnected neighborhoods, forced people to drive for every errand, and erased vibrant community spaces. But what’s often overlooked is that modern “by type” planning has come a long way from that segregated model. Today, it’s one of the most widely used frameworks for building equitable, sustainable cities, and we at our company have built our entire product line to support that modern iteration.
Let’s ground this in real, recent examples, because theory only goes so far. Take Portland, Oregon, a city that’s long been a leader in progressive urban planning. In 2021, Portland updated its Comprehensive Plan to expand “by type” zoning to allow what’s called “missing middle” housing—duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings— in areas that were previously only zoned for single-family homes. The goal was to address the city’s decades-long housing shortage, and “by type” sorting made it easy for planners to clearly define which areas could accommodate these new housing types, and set rules to ensure they fit in with existing neighborhood scale. As a supplier, we worked with three local contractors on that project: we provided fire-resistant wall panels designed specifically for mid-rise “missing middle” buildings, and solar-ready roof mounts that aligned with the city’s “by type” rules for energy-efficient new construction. That project didn’t just add 200 new homes—it showed that “by type” planning can be flexible enough to adapt to changing community needs, not just rigid segregation.
Another example is Barcelona’s Superblocks initiative, which launched in 2016 to cut traffic pollution and reclaim public space. The city used “by type” planning to divide grid neighborhoods into 200-meter-square blocks, separating through-traffic (a type of use that’s restricted to only the block’s perimeter) from local pedestrian and bike use (a public space type that takes up 60% of each block). The result has been a 70% drop in local air pollution, more space for parks and playgrounds, and a 30% increase in walking trips for daily errands. For us, that project was a big milestone: we supplied modular bike racks and durable park seating that was built to the exact size and placement rules defined in Barcelona’s “by type” public space framework. What stuck with me most is that the city planners didn’t treat “by type” as a straitjacket—they adjusted the rules for different neighborhoods, adding small commercial kiosks in blocks near downtown and community gardens in residential blocks, all while keeping the core “by type” structure intact.
Of course, “by type” planning isn’t without its critics, and those criticisms have shaped how we do our work as suppliers. One common critique is that rigid “by type” rules can exclude mixed-use development, which is widely recognized as key to vibrant, walkable cities. I’ve heard that frustration firsthand from small business owners in Denver, where in 2018 a local bakery tried to add a small seating area and takeout window to its ground-floor space, only to run afoul of “by type” zoning that separated “residential” and “commercial” uses on the same lot. The bakery ended up closing, and that’s a perfect example of how outdated “by type” frameworks can fail communities. But here’s the thing: modern “by type” planning has adapted to that. More than 80% of U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 now use what’s called “form-based code” alongside traditional “by type” zoning, which keeps the type-sorting structure but allows mixed uses as long as they fit the building’s scale, height, and design. In that Denver bakery example, if the city had used a form-based code framework, the business would have been allowed, because the seating and takeout window fit the ground-floor scale of the existing building.
That evolution is why our company has invested so heavily in products that align with modern “by type” and form-based code rules. We don’t just supply generic building materials—we work directly with planners and architects to understand their specific “by type” guidelines for residential, commercial, and public spaces, so our products meet both functional needs and regulatory requirements. For example, we developed a line of prefabricated façade panels that come in three standard “by type” profile sizes: one for single-family homes, one for mid-rise apartments, and one for small commercial buildings. That standardization helps planners streamline review processes, because they can easily verify that a new building fits its assigned type category, while the panels can be customized with local design touches (like brick or stone finishes) to avoid the “cookie-cutter” look that plagues some urban developments.
As someone who’s worked in this space for years, I’ve also seen “by type” planning play a critical role in disaster response, which is less talked about but incredibly important. After Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, the state updated its coastal planning rules to categorize buildings by type, with stricter wind-resistance requirements for residential structures in flood zones, and separate rules for commercial buildings that often house emergency shelters. We supplied impact-resistant windows and reinforced roof trusses that matched the exact “by type” specifications for coastal residential buildings, and those products helped hundreds of homeowners in Tampa Bay rebuild to withstand future storms. In that case, “by type” planning wasn’t just about organizing space—it was about saving lives by making sure every building type meets the safety needs of its location.
Of course, no framework is perfect, and “by type” planning will always need to be refined to address new challenges. Today, the biggest one is climate change, and planners are increasingly using “by type” sorting to prioritize low-carbon building types. For example, in Seattle, planners recently updated their “by type” rules to require all new commercial buildings over 5,000 square feet to meet net-zero energy standards, and they offer density bonuses for residential types that include community gardens or rooftop solar. As a supplier, that means we’re constantly updating our products to meet these new standards, like high-efficiency HVAC systems tailored to each building type and carbon-neutral insulation for residential and public spaces.
But here’s the real takeaway, the one I wish more people understood: “by type” planning isn’t just a bureaucratic tool. It’s the invisible structure that makes our cities feel familiar, walkable, and safe. When you walk down a street and know that the corner store will be on the ground floor, the apartment buildings will be 3 to 5 stories tall, and the park will be a few blocks away, that’s “by type” planning at work. It’s not the only tool—mixed-use development, community input, and adaptive reuse are all critical too—but it’s a foundational one.
If you’re a city planner, developer, or architect working on a project that relies on “by type” planning, I’d encourage you to reach out. For over a decade, our team has specialized in supplying high-quality, code-compliant products tailored to every type of urban development, from small residential projects to large-scale public spaces. We work closely with our partners to navigate regulatory requirements, reduce construction timelines, and ensure that every project fits its assigned type category while still feeling unique and connected to the community. Don’t let outdated myths about “by type” planning stop you from building cities that work for everyone.
Ultrasonic Coating System References:
- Cities for Citizens: Planning and the Rise of Modern Urbanism in the United States, by Roger Montgomery, Routledge, 2015.
- "Portland’s Missing Middle Zoning: One Year Later," City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, 2022.
- Barcelona Superblocks: A Model for Urban Mobility and Public Space, by the Barcelona City Council, 2020.
- "The Evolution of Zoning: From Segregation to Sustainability," Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 87, No. 2, 2021.
- "Hurricane Ian Recovery: Coastal Building Code Updates and Resilience," Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, 2023.
- Seattle Climate Action Plan: Building Type-Based Energy Standards, City of Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment, 2022.
Hangzhou Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.
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