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Rezoning a top-notch CBD: The choreography of land-use regulation and creative destruction in Manhattan’s East Midtown

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  • Igal Charney

Abstract

This paper makes the case for the connection between making land-use regulatory changes and the process of destruction and redevelopment. Under the capitalist imperative, buildings that do not fulfil the full potential for profit are likely to be demolished (or refurbished) but demolition and new development are not shaped exclusively by the immutable laws of the market as they are mediated and facilitated by specific institutional contexts. Using the case of East Midtown rezoning in New York City, the paper examines the amendments of two land-use regulatory mechanisms: the enlargement of development rights (rezoning or upzoning) and the relaxation of the spatial limitations on the usage of existing unused rights (transferable development rights). While apparently unconnected, upzoning and transferable development rights are part of the regulatory framework that seeks to secure the ongoing generation of the highest-possible profits for private as well as public interests. By examining the choreography of rezoning and transferable development rights, the paper shows how the mechanics of creative destruction work while substantiating an existing body of knowledge on land use policies and practices in New York City. When used together, rezoning and transferable development rights are instrumental in remaking the built environment. Essentially, the rezoning of a 78-block area in East Midtown Manhattan unlocks captured and latent development rights that otherwise could not come about, and demonstrates the necessity of institutional arrangements to make creative destruction actually work.

Suggested Citation

  • Igal Charney, 2024. "Rezoning a top-notch CBD: The choreography of land-use regulation and creative destruction in Manhattan’s East Midtown," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(8), pages 1451-1467, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:8:p:1451-1467
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980231208623
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy & Gail Pacheco & Kade Sorensen, 2021. "The effect of upzoning on house prices and redevelopment premiums in Auckland, New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 959-976, April.
    2. repec:eme:jpvi00:14635789610153470 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan & Phillips, Peter C.B., 2023. "The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Barr, Jason M., 2016. "Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199344369.
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    6. Hung-Ying Chen, 2020. "Cashing in on the sky: financialization and urban air rights in the Taipei Metropolitan Area," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 198-208, February.
    7. Rachel Weber, 2021. "Embedding futurity in urban governance: Redevelopment schemes and the time value of money," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(3), pages 503-524, May.
    8. Elliott Sclar, 2021. "The Infinite Elasticity of Air: New York City’s Financialization of Transferable Development Rights," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(2), pages 353-380, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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