Urban planning (zoning) regulations determine the types of development activity that are legally permitted. Traditionally, zoning in Trinidad and Tobago has favoured the development of detached single-family homes, with a separation of land uses into residential, commercial, industrial and other categories.

The result has been urban sprawl, that is, an environment: designed around the needs of drivers and not pedestrians and cyclists; lacking a high quality public realm; and planned in an inefficient manner, where places of work, entertainment, recreation, and commerce are not close to homes, among other things. The decline of the island’s cities and the predominance of suburban development was a natural outcome.

In keeping with current best-practice, this project aimed to reverse many of these ills. It proposed a loosening of restrictions on the intensity of development in the City, balancing the need to efficiently use limited land and the current character of the City’s neighbourhoods. It proposed an allowance for a greater mixture of compatible residential, commercial, and light industrial land uses, in order to allow for more compact, efficient, and functional neighbourhoods.

Based on the concept of the rural to urban transect, it presented regulations suitable to a neighbourhood’s position in the transect. Some such as the Central Business District are highly urban in character, while others are more suburban.

By placing an emphasis on regulating the facades of the private buildings lining the public street, the width of sidewalks, and the layout of car parking and circulation infrastructure, the Code aimed to facilitate a more inviting, vibrant, and pedestrian-friendly City over time.