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Do Strict Land Use Regulations Make Metropolitan Areas More Segregated by Income?

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  • Michael C. Lens
  • Paavo Monkkonen

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Income segregation has risen in each of the last four decades in U.S. metropolitan areas, which can have lifelong impacts on the health, economic productivity, and behaviors of residents. Although it is widely assumed that local land use regulations—such as minimum lot sizes and growth controls—exclude low-income households from wealthier neighborhoods, the empirical research is surprisingly limited. We examine the relationship between land use regulation and segregation by income using new measures for the 95 biggest cities in the United States. We find that density restrictions are associated with the segregation of the wealthy and middle income, but not the poor. We also find that more local pressure to regulate land use is linked to higher rates of income segregation, but that more state control is connected to lower-income segregation. Takeaway for practice: Density restrictions do drive urban income segregation of the rich, not the poor, but should be addressed because rich enclaves create significant metropolitan problems. Planners at the local level need assistance from regional and state efforts to ameliorate income segregation. Inclusionary housing requirements have a greater potential to reduce income segregation than bringing higher-income households into lower-income parts of the city. Finally, comprehensive and consistent data on the impacts of local land use regulations should be collected to inform future research and planning practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael C. Lens & Paavo Monkkonen, 2016. "Do Strict Land Use Regulations Make Metropolitan Areas More Segregated by Income?," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(1), pages 6-21, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:82:y:2016:i:1:p:6-21
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2015.1111163
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    Cited by:

    1. Salim Furth & MaryJo Webster, 2023. "Single-Family Zoning and Race: Evidence From the Twin Cities," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 821-843, July.
    2. Kling, Hannah KM, 2020. "Land-Use Regulations As Exclusion: A GIS Analysis," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), February.
    3. John Landis & Vincent J. Reina, 2021. "Do Restrictive Land Use Regulations Make Housing More Expensive Everywhere?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 35(4), pages 305-324, November.
    4. Andrii Parkhomenko, 2018. "The Rise of Housing Supply Regulation in the US: Local Causes and Aggregate Implications," 2018 Meeting Papers 275, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    5. Resseger, Matthew, 2022. "The Impact of Land Use Regulation on Racial Segregation: Evidence from Massachusetts Zoning Borders," Working Papers 11220, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    6. Ihlanfeldt, Keith & Mayock, Tom, 2018. "School segregation and the foreclosure crisis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 277-290.
    7. Dublin-Boc, Jenna L., 2023. "Zoning for character: Contextual rezoning and socioeconomic change in New York City neighborhoods, 1986–2019," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Muhammad Salar Khan & Abu Bakkar Siddique, 2021. "Spatial Analysis of Regional and Income Inequality in the United States," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Rumbach, Andrew & Sullivan, Esther & McMullen, Shelley & Makarewicz, Carrie, 2022. "You don’t need zoning to be exclusionary: Manufactured home parks, land-use regulations and housing segregation in the Houston metropolitan area," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    10. Keith Ihlanfeldt & Tom Mayock, 2019. "Affordable Housing and the Socioeconomic Integration of Elementary Schools," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 567-595, May.
    11. Matthew Mleczko & Matthew Desmond, 2023. "Using natural language processing to construct a National Zoning and Land Use Database," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(13), pages 2564-2584, October.
    12. Boeing, Geoff, 2018. "The Effects of Inequality, Density, and Heterogeneous Residential Preferences on Urban Displacement and Metropolitan Structure: An Agent-Based Model," SocArXiv mkq7d, Center for Open Science.
    13. Ricardo Hausmann & Tim O'Brien & Andres Fortunato & Alexia Lochmann & Kishan Shah & Lucila Venturi & Sheyla Enciso & Ekaterina Vashkinskaya & Ketan Ahuja & Bailey Klinger & Federico Sturzenegger & Mar, 2023. "Growth Through Inclusion in South Africa," CID Working Papers 434, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    14. Biao Zhang & Dian Shao & Zhonghu Zhang, 2022. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution Dynamic, Effect and Governance Policy of Construction Land Use in Urban Agglomeration: Case Study of Yangtze River Delta, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-36, May.
    15. Ihlanfeldt, Keith, 2019. "The deconcentration of minority students attending bad schools: The role of housing affordability within school attendance zones containing good schools," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 83-101.
    16. Yue Gong & Yanning Wei, 2022. "The Transformation of Residential Segregation in the Pearl River Delta, China: A Planning-Driven Form," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.

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