Editing Zoning (section)

====Social problems in the United States====
The United States suffers from greater levels of [[deurbanization]] and [[urban decay]] than other developed countries,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/americas-cities-an-urban-_b_6896628 |title=America's Cities: An 'Urban Crisis' Ignored |work=The Huffington Post |year=2015}}</ref> and additional problems such as [[urban prairie]]s that do not occur elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.buffalorising.com/2010/05/what-to-do-about-the-expanding-urban-prairie/ |title=What to do about the expanding urban prairie |publisher=Buffalo Rising |year=2010}}</ref> Jonathan Rothwell has argued that zoning encourages [[racial segregation]].<ref name="Rothwell">Rothwell, Jonathan T. and Massey, Douglas S. (2009) "The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas" Urban Affairs Review. Volume 4, Number 6, pp. 779-806</ref> He claims a strong relationship exists between an area's allowance of building housing at higher density and racial integration between blacks and whites in the United States.<ref name="Rothwell" /> The relationship between segregation and density is explained by Rothwell and Massey as the restrictive density zoning producing higher housing prices in white areas and limiting opportunities for people with modest incomes to leave segregated areas.<ref name="Rothwell" /> Between 1980 and 2000, [[racial integration]] occurred faster in areas that did not have strict density regulations than those that did.<ref name="Rothwell" /> Rothwell and Massey suggest homeowners and business interests are the two key players in density regulations that emerge from a political economy.<ref name="Rothwell" /> They propose that in older states where rural jurisdictions are primarily composed of homeowners, it is the narrow interests of homeowners to block development because tax rates are lower in rural areas, and taxation is more likely to fall on the median homeowner. Business interests are unable to counteract the homeowners' interests in rural areas because business interests are weaker and business ownership is rarely controlled by people living outside the community. This translates into rural communities that have a tendency to resist development by using density regulations to make business opportunities less attractive. Density zoning regulations in the U.S increase [[residential segregation in the United States|residential segregation]] in metropolitan areas by reducing the availability of affordable housing in some jurisdictions; other zoning regulations like school infrastructure regulations and growth controls are also variables associated with higher segregation. With more permissive zoning regulations there are lower levels of segregation; desegregation is higher in places with more liberal regulations on zoning, allowing the residents to integrate racially.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rothwell |first1=Jonathan |last2=Massey |first2=Douglas S. |title=The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas |journal=Urban Affairs Review |date=July 2009 |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=779–806 |doi=10.1177/1078087409334163 |pmid=25009413 |pmc=4083588}}</ref> Metropolitan areas that allowed higher density development moved rapidly toward racial integration than their counterparts with strict density limitations. The greater the allowable density, the lower the level of racial segregation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rothwell |first1=Jonathan |last2=Massey |first2=Douglas S. |title=The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas |journal=Urban Affairs Review |date=July 2009 |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=779–806 |doi=10.1177/1078087409334163|pmid=25009413 |pmc=4083588 }}</ref>

Zoning laws that limit the construction of new housing (like [[single-family zoning]]) are associated with reduced affordability and are a major factor in [[residential segregation in the United States]] by income and race.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Monkkonen |first1=Paavo |title=The Elephant in the Zoning Code: Single Family Zoning in the Housing Supply Discussion |journal=Housing Policy Debate |date=2019 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=41–43 |doi=10.1080/10511482.2018.1506392|s2cid=158380453 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2hk5k1k6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knaap |first1=Gerrit-Jan |last2=Meck |first2=Stuart |last3=Moore |first3=Terry |last4=Parker |first4=Robert |title=Do we know regulatory barriers when we see them? An exploration using zoning and development indicators |journal=Housing Policy Debate |date=2007 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=711–749 |doi=10.1080/10511482.2007.9521619|s2cid=154878958 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garde |first1=Ajay |last2=Song |first2=Qi |title=Housing Affordability Crisis and Inequities of Land Use Change: Insights From Cities in the Southern California Region |journal=Journal of the American Planning Association |date=2022 |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=67–82 |doi=10.1080/01944363.2021.1911673 |s2cid=237827933 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/14842783 |quote=Researchers, national and state leaders, and professional and community interest groups argue that regulatory barriers contribute to housing shortages, emphasize that the strictness of land use regulation is correlated with high housing prices, and recommend zoning reform to address the problem}}</ref>