Zoning, Regionalism, and Smart Growth

Abstract

Local governments are the primary public overseers of private land use and building practices in the United States. As displayed in Figure 8-1, local governments are vested with a broad range of legal powers and tools relating to the regulation, acquisition, and taxation of real property (land and buildings) within their jurisdictions.

The lack of any substantial relationship between the legal machinery and a clear concept of city planning is the firmest impression left by the origin and later course of land use control in America.

John Delafons, Land Use Controls in the United States, 1969

In America, sprawl is the law of the land. Of the many laws that prescribe or induce sprawl, municipal zoning laws are the most direct, pervasive, and important.

Henry R. Richmond, “Metropolitan Land-Use Reform,” 2000