Book Review of the Code and the City

This book is organized into three parts, each consisting of three chapters. The first part describes the historical context and framework within which urban norms and standards are embedded. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the earliest urban form standards, which were created based on the power of a sovereign authority, as illustrated in some ancient civilizations such as the Indus Valley, China, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium. Ben-Joseph asserts that Islamic cities, on the other hand, were formed with a lot of adaptation based on “the principles of use rather than specific architectural regulations” (p. 16). Ben-Joseph uses historical evidence to show that order can emerge not only from centralized decision-making, but also from autonomous interactions of individuals in a community.