Problem
Building set-backs from the street, originally invented to protect the public welfare by giving every building light and air, have actually helped greatly to destroy the street as a social space.
Solution
On no account allow set-backs between streets or paths or public open land the the buildings which front on them. The set-backs do nothing valuable and almost always destroy the value of the open areas between the buildings. Build right up to the paths; change the laws in all communities where obsolete by-laws make this impossible. And let the building fronts take on slightly uneven angles as they accommodate to the shape of the street.
Related Patterns
… this pattern helps to shape the paths and buildings simultaneously; and so completes Building Complex (95), Wings of Light (107), Positive Outdoor Space (106), Arcades (119), Path Shape (121), and also Activity Pockets (124).
Detail the fronts of buildings, indeed the whole building perimeter, according to the pattern Building Edge (160). If some outdoor space is needed at the front of the building, make it part of the street life by making it a Private Terrace on the Street (140) or Gallery Surround (166); and give the building many openings onto the street - Stair Seats (125), Open Stairs (158), Street Windows (164), Opening to the Street (165), Front Door Bench (242) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 593.