They will be used to show how the codes, which dictate factors such as the height of windows and the position of buildings, can increase the speed and quality of urban developments.
The projects will be unveiled later this month. Jon Rouse, outgoing chief executive of CABE, said: "We're very close to announcing a dozen urban coding pilots. We're looking to show substantial progress on all these sites by the Urban Summit next January."
The projects are thought to include: a 1200-home English Partnerships site in Upton, Northampton; 12,000 homes in Barking Reach, near London; a 3500-home site in Aldershot, Hampshire and the 700-home Ore Valley site, part of the millennium community in Hastings, Kent.
CABE will pay for a team of consultants to help each project. The cost has yet to be finalised.
Peter Springett, EP's area director for Northampton, said: "The government is keen to use our experience in Upton to teach about how urban coding can work. It enabled us to secure planning permission in very short order."
The codes were used at Poundbury, the Prince of Wales' controversial model village in Dorset (HT 23 January, page 26).
Architects have criticised the codes for restricting expression but the ODPM has given them strong backing.
Deputy prime minister John Prescott said last November that he would amend the 1947 Planning Act to incorporate the use of design codes.
However, many are still sceptical. Kelvin MacDonald, director of research for the Royal Town Planning Institute, said: "We remain to be convinced that this will have the desired effect either of speeding up the planning process or creating better places."
The initiative is likely to be launched at the Town and Country Planning Association's Design Codes and Masterplans conference on 30 April.
Source
Housing Today
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