Zoning and the Economic Geography of Cities

Comprehensive zoning is ubiquitous in U.S. cities, yet we know surprisingly little about its long-run impacts. We provide the first attempt to measure the causal effect of land use regulation over the long term, using as our setting Chicago's first (1923) comprehensive zoning ordinance. Our res...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNBER Working Paper Series p. 22658
Main Authors Shertzer, Allison, Tate Twinam, Walsh, Randall P
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc 01.09.2016
Subjects
Cities
Economic activity
Economic impact
Economic models
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Geography
Housing prices
Land use
Population
Regulation
Studies
Zoning ordinances
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Comprehensive zoning is ubiquitous in U.S. cities, yet we know surprisingly little about its long-run impacts. We provide the first attempt to measure the causal effect of land use regulation over the long term, using as our setting Chicago's first (1923) comprehensive zoning ordinance. Our results indicate that zoning has had a broader and more significant impact on the spatial distribution of economic activity than was previously believed. In particular, zoning may be more important than either geography or transportation networks - the workhorses of urban economic geography models - in explaining where commercial and industrial activity are located.
ISSN:0898-2937
DOI:10.3386/w22658