Published: 2009 | Jonathan Rothwell and Douglas Massey Abstract We argue that anti-density zoning increases black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in white jurisdictions. Drawing on census data and local regulation indicators…
Regulation and the High Cost of Housing in California
Published: 2005 | John Quigley and Steven Raphael | American Economic Association Abstract In this paper, we explore the linkages between land-use regulations, growth in the housing stock, and housing prices in California cities. First, we assess whether housing is…
An Economic History of Zoning and a Cure for Its Exclusionary Effects
Published: 2001 | William A. Fischel | Urban Studies Abstract I outline the twentieth-century history of American zoning to explain how homeowners came to dominate its content and administration in most jurisdictions. Zoning’s original purpose was to protect homeowners in…
The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities
Published: 1997 | Christopher Silver Abstract This book chapter points out zoning’s early social function as a legal mechanism for separating immigrant and African American populations, serving to preserve property values or enforce racial segregation. It shows that the narrative…
Urban Land Developers and the Origins of Zoning Laws: The Case of Berkeley
Published: 1986 | Marc A. Weiss | Berkeley Planning Journal Abstract In the following paper I present an analysis of the origins of zoning laws and a case study of the beginning of zoning in Berkeley, California. The particular focus…