Is Semi-Discretionary Design Review Wieldy? Evidence from Seattle’s Program

ABSTRACT

This article explores the question of how design guidelines supporting deliberative design review can be said to be wieldy, a concept explored by considering how frequently, faithfully, and prescriptively they are used. A content analysis of development applications from Seattle’s (WA) review program lends support to the specification of guidelines around considerations of street frontage, architectural concept, massing and open space. However, the results indicate that only a concise list will be used as intended. In response, it is recommended that processes distinguish between core and supplementary guidelines, or that these are nested and articulated to address overlapping design challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• Development control
• design review
• design guidelines
• Seattle

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.