Zoning is a government planning tool used primarily in the United States and Western Europe that regulates the use of private property (Roeseler, 1976; Smith, 1983). It seeks to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of people and their community as one aspect of a broader comprehensive municipal plan. It specifies the goal of present and future community development by dividing communities into districts or zones and regulating the use of land and intensity of development. Both urban and rural areas are commonly zoned for an array of uses, including subdivision development, historic preservation, agricultural development, forestry, recreation, flood plain management, and airport space. The intent is to direct patterns of growth in a way that the community deems essential to its best interest: protecting property values, encouraging the growth of tax ratables, preserving open space, and enhancing the livability of community life.
In the United States zoning is an exercise of...
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Bibliography
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Goldberg, M., and Horwood, P., 1983. Zoning: Its Costs and Relevance For the 1980s. Vancouver: Fraser Institute.
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Smith, H. H., 1983. The Citizen's Guide to Zoning. Washington, DC: American Planning Association Planners Press.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Wilson, D. (1999). Zoning regulations. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_374
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