Zoning Debate Hosted by Cato and the Urban Institute
Today through Monday, July 24th, Cato and the Urban Institute are hosting a joint online debate contemplating costs, benefits, and possible reforms to zoning regulation. Participant opinions will run the gamut, from anti‐zoning to pro‐zoning, which should make the conversation lively. Participants will include the following:
- Emily Talen, professor of urbanism, University of Chicago
- Robert Dietz, chief economist and senior vice president, National Association of Homebuilders
- Dana Berliner, senior vice president and litigation director, Institute for Justice
- Lance Freeman, professor of urban planning, Columbia University
- Richard Rothstein, research associate, Economic Policy Institute; fellow of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Haas Institute at the University of California (Berkeley)
- Craig Anthony Arnold, professor of law and affiliated professor of urban planning in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs, and chair of the interdisciplinary Center for Land Use and Environmental Responsibility, at the University of Louisville
- Derek Hyra, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs, American University
I will moderate the debate alongside Rolf Pendall, co‐director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute.
On the anti‐zoning side, participants are expected to argue that zoning increases housing costs and segregation, while reducing property rights, individual liberty, and economic growth. On the pro‐zoning side, participants are expected to contend that zoning is a boon to environmental justice, growth management, and community preservation.
The debate will conclude by contemplating possible reforms to zoning regulation. This portion is particularly important because there is often substantial local pressure to zone restrictively. Overcoming it often requires ingenuity.
Join us for the full conversation here.
