The Laws of the Indies (Spanish: Leyes de Indias) are the entire body of laws issued by

the Spanish Crown for the American and Philippine possessions of its empire. They regulated
social, political and economic life in these areas. The laws are composed of myriad decrees
issued over the centuries and the important laws of the 16th century, which attempted to
regulate the interactions between the settlers and natives, such as the Laws of Burgos (1512)
and the New Laws (1542).
Throughout the 400 years of Spanish presence in these parts of the world, the laws
were compiled several times, most notably in 1680 under Charles II in the Recopilacin de
las Leyes de los Reynos de Indias (Compilation of the Laws of the Kingdoms of the Indies).
This became considered the classic collection of the laws, although later laws superseded
parts of it, and other compilations were issued.

History
The Spanish Viceroyalties in the Americas sometimes generated conflicts
between indigenous peoples ('Natives' or 'Indians')and the Spanish colonists. The Spanish
attempted to control the Natives to force their labor. At the same time, conflicts on policy
and implementation occurred between the encomenderos and the Crown.
Two of the main sets of laws issued in the 16th century regulated Spanish interaction with
the Native peoples, an issue about which the Crown quickly became concerned soon after
the voyages of Christopher Columbus and his governorship. The Laws of Burgos (1512),
signed by King Ferdinand II of Aragon, focused upon the welfare of the conquered native
peoples. The issue was revisited after Bartolom de las Casas brought attention to abuses
being carried out by encomenderos. The Laws of Burgos were revised by the New Laws of
1542 issued by Carlos I and quickly revised again in 1552, after the laws met resistance from
colonists. These were followed by the Ordinances
Concerning Discoveries in 1573, which forbade any
unauthorized operations against independent Native
Americans.[1]
The Valladolid debate (15501551) was the first
moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and
treatment of a colonized peopleby colonizers. Held in
the Colegio de San Gregorio, in the Spanish city
of Valladolid, it was a moral and theological debate
about the colonization of the Americas, its justification for
the conversion to Catholicism and more specifically
about the relations between the European settlers and
the natives of the New World. It consisted of a number of
opposing views about the way natives were to be
integrated into colonial life, their conversion to Christianity
and their rights and obligations. According to the French
historian Jean Dumont The Valladolid debate was a
major turning point in world history In that moment in
Spain appeared the dawn of the human rights.
To guide and regularize the establishment of presidios (military towns), missions,
and pueblos (civilian towns), King Phillip II developed the first version of the Laws of the
Indies. This comprehensive guide was composed of 148 ordinances to aid colonists in
locating, building, and populating settlements. They codified the city planning process and
 represented some of the first attempts at a general plan.
Signed in 1573, the Laws of the Indies are considered the
first wide-ranging guidelines towards design and
development of communities. These laws were heavily
influenced by Vitruvius' Ten Books of
Architecture and Leon Battista Alberti's treatises on the
subject.

Examples: town planning

In Book IV of the 1680 compilation of The Laws of the Indies, plans were set forth in detail on
every facet of creating a community, including town planning. Examples of the range of
rules include:
Those [Colonists] who should want to make a commitment to building a new settlement
in the form and manner already prescribed, be it of more or less than
30 vecinos (freemen), (know that) it should be of no less than twelve persons and be
awarded the authorization and territory in accordance with the prescribed conditions.
Having made the selection of the site where the town is to be built, it must, as already
stated, be in an elevated and healthy location; [be] with means of fortification; [have]
fertile soil and with plenty of land for farming and pasturage; have fuel, timber, and
resources; [have] fresh water, a native population, ease of transport, access and exit;
[and be] open to the north wind; and, if on the coast, due consideration should be paid
to the quality of the harbor and that the sea does not lie to the south or west; and if
possible not near lagoons or marshes in which poisonous animals and polluted air and
water breed.
They [Colonists] shall try as far as possible to have the buildings all of one type for the
sake of the beauty of the town.
Within the town, a commons shall be delimited, large enough that although the
population may experience a rapid expansion, there will always be sufficient space
where the people may go to for recreation and take their cattle to pasture without
them making any damage.

Plan of the walled city

of Manila with elements of colonial
planning present

The site and building lots for

slaughterhouses, fisheries, tanneries,
and other business which produce
filth shall be so placed that the filth
can easily be disposed of.
These rules are part of a body of 148
regulations configuring any settlement
according to the rule of Spain and its
colonies. This continued as a precedent
in all towns under Spanish control until
the relinquishing of the land to others,
as in the case of the American colonies
and their growth. The Laws of the Indies are still used as an example to design guidelines for
communities today.
The Laws specify many details of towns. A plan is made centered on a Plaza Mayor
(main square) of size within specified limits, from which twelve straight streets are built in a
rectilinear grid. The directions of the streets are chosen according to the prevailing winds, to
protect the Plaza Mayor. The guidelines recommend a hospital for non-contagious cases
near the church, and one for contagious diseases further away.
Most townships founded in any part of the Spanish Empire in America before the
various parts became independent countries were planned according to the Laws. These
include many townships with Spanish names located in what is now the United States. The
creation of a central square and rectilinear grid of streets was different from the haphazard
and organic growth that led to meandering streets in many old townships in Iberia.
 Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (zoning floor area) to the
size of the piece of land upon which it is built. The terms can also refer to limits imposed on such
a ratio.
As a formula: Floor area ratio = (total amount of usable floor area that a building has, zoning
floor area) / (area of the plot)
History
One of the purposes of the 1916 zoning ordinance of New York City was to prevent tall
buildings from obstructing too much light and air. The 1916 zoning ordinance sought to control
building size by regulating height and setback requirements for towers. In 1961, a revision to the
zoning ordinance introduced the concept of floor area ratio (FAR). Buildings built before 1961
often have FARs that would be unachievable today, such as the Empire State Building which has
an FAR of 25 - meaning that it earns considerably greater rent than a newer building on the
same land could hope for.[1]
Purpose
The floor area ratio (FAR) can be used in zoning to limit the number of people that a
building can hold instead of controlling a building's external shape.
For example, if lot must adhere to a 0.10 FAR, then the total area of all floors in all buildings on
the lot must be no more than one-tenth the area of the parcel itself. (In other words, if the lot
was 10,000 sq. ft, then the total floor area of all floors in all buildings mustn't exceed 1,000 sq. ft.)
Common exclusions to the total calculation of square footage for the purpose of floor area ratio
(FAR) include unoccupied areas such as mechanical equipment floors, basements, stair towers,
elevator shafts, and parking garages.
An architect can plan for either a single-story building consuming the entire allowable
area in one floor, or a multi-story building that rises higher above the plane of the land, but
which must consequently result in a smaller footprint than would a single-story building of the
same total floor area. By combining the horizontal and vertical limits into a single figure, some
flexibility is permitted in building design, while achieving a hard limit on at least one measure of
overall size. One advantage to fixing this parameter, as opposed to others such as height, width,
or length, is that floor area correlates well with other considerations relevant to zoning regulation,
such as total parking that would be required for an office building, total number of units that
might be available for residential use, total load on municipal services, etc. The amounts of
these things tend to be constant for a given total floor area, regardless of how that area is
distributed horizontally and vertically. Thus, many jurisdictions have found it unnecessary to
include hard height limitations when using floor area ratio calculations.
Terminology
Similar terms
floor space ratio (FSR), floor space index (FSI), site ratio and plot ratio
Floor Space Index (FSI) vs Floor Area Ratio (FAR)[edit]
While in terms of the outcome both will give the same built-up area that is allowed to be built on
a certain area of land, there is an important difference in the representation of FSI & FAR. One is
ratio and the other is index.
An index number is an economic data figure reflecting price or quantity compared with a
standard or base value. The base usually equals 100 and the index number is usually expressed
as 100 times the ratio to the base value. For example, if a commodity costs twice as much in
1970 as it did in 1960, its index number would be 200 relative to 1960. Index numbers are values
expressed as a percentage of a single base figure. For example, if annual production of a
particular chemical rose by 35%, output in the second year was 135% of that in the first year. In
index terms, output in the two years was 100 and 135 respectively.
FSI Vs FAR, Example: Being able to build 1.5 times or 150% of land area will give us same result.
But the difference is in denotation. When we say FAR we have to say 1.5, However, when we
want to say FSI we have to say 150 or 150%.