Zoned Out: Density Restrictions And Income Segregation

A new paper out of UCLA, published this month in the Journal of the American Planning Association, explores the link between land-use regulation and the segregation of income groups in metropolitan areas, and contains a number of insights that should be of interest to policymakers and stakeholders in the development industry.

Citing established links between neighbourhood social mix and the improved physical, economic, and social health of community members, authors Michael Lens and Paavo Monkkonen set out to investigate how zoning and development regulation exacerbates the segregation of various income groups.

The authors identify two primary culprits: density restrictions, which tend to result in high-wealth enclaves, and the concentration of zoning and development control at the local level, which tends to isolate poor and working-class families.