Ecomonic Practice, Social Consequence Motivations and Methods of Zoning in American Communities
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Authors
Mason, Charles F.
Issue Date
2009
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Euclidean zoning, the dominant form of American land use zoning, has
functioned on the separation of land uses with the purpose of reducing the negative
effects of certain types of uses on others. As a result, communities have come to define
l~d uses by "desirability" and their effects in terms of "nuisances." For example, the
creation of use districts separates noisy or polluting industrial and commercial uses are
from residential areas. However, these notions are also used to define specific housing
types as more desirable than others. This has led to the exclusion or segregation of
different forms of housing from communities, resulting in disparities.
Researchers have argued that socioeconomic segregation has resulted primarily
from zoning being used as a property rights measure to maintain land values. Research
has also shown that Euclidean zoning has perpetuated specific economic and social
notions that have only served to widen inequalities. Most existing research, however, has
focused on the effects of Euclidean zoning, rather than the processes that result in those
effects.
Using interviews with public officials, administrators, and professionals, in
combination with theories of Foucault, Gramsci, Massey, Hall and McGinty, and Form,
among others, I show that zoning enables power to organize land uses for the ends of the
planned economy. I argue that if communities seek to lessen socioeconomic segregation,
they must redefine conventional zoning. This will not result in a redefinition of the
"ends" of zoning, but rather a complete reorientation of assumptions about how zoning
works to achieve those ends.
Description
vi, 102 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.