Zoning

In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a single use (e.g. residential, industrial), they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development.^[1]^[2]

Zoning is the most common regulatory urban planning method used by local governments in developed countries.^[3]^[4]^[5] Exceptions include the United Kingdom and the City of Houston, Texas.^[6]

Most zoning systems have a procedure for granting variances (exceptions to the zoning rules), usually because of some perceived hardship caused by the particular nature of the property in question.

^ Urban Stormwater Management in the United States. National Academy of Sciences. 2009.
^ Hodge, Gerald (2014). Planning Canadian Communities. Toronto: Thomson. pp. 388–390. ISBN 978-0-17-650982-8.
^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 784. ISBN 978-0415862875.
^ E.g., Lefcoe, George, "The Regulation of Superstores: The Legality of Zoning Ordinances Emerging from the Skirmishes between Wal-Mart and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union" (April 2005). USC Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 05-12; and USC Law and Economics Research Paper No. 05-12. Available at SSRN 712801
^ (in German) BMVBS - Startseite. Bmvbs.de. Retrieved on 2013-07-19.
^ "Houston Doesn't have zoning, but there are workarounds". Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research. 2020.

[1] Urban Stormwater Management in the United States. National Academy of Sciences. 2009.

[:0-2] Hodge, Gerald (2014). Planning Canadian Communities. Toronto: Thomson. pp. 388–390. ISBN 978-0-17-650982-8.

[3] Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 784. ISBN 978-0415862875.

[4] E.g., Lefcoe, George, "The Regulation of Superstores: The Legality of Zoning Ordinances Emerging from the Skirmishes between Wal-Mart and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union" (April 2005). USC Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 05-12; and USC Law and Economics Research Paper No. 05-12. Available at SSRN 712801

[5] (in German) BMVBS - Startseite. Bmvbs.de. Retrieved on 2013-07-19.

[6] "Houston Doesn't have zoning, but there are workarounds". Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research. 2020.

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