The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Make Space for a Project-Oriented Understanding of Urban Regulation

Abstract

This paper examines the role of regulations in the production of urban form, challenging the conventional view of urban rules as external to the design process. Using the British National Model Design Code (NMDC) and the Hemel Hempstead pilot case as a framework, the article proposes an interpretative model based on three perspectives: nomopoietic, cognitive, and axiological. The first interprets design as a generator of norms; the second as a heuristic device that makes the norms intelligible; the third as an expression of values translated into physical prescriptions. The analysis of the Paradise Design Code exemplifies how codification is a design act that crystallises spatial visions into regulatory infrastructures. In conclusion, the study advocates for the integration of "regulatory literacy" within architectural pedagogy, training professionals capable of designing the rules of the project while understanding their broader systemic effects.