IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v50y2018i4p826-847.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of racial bias in exclusionary zoning: The case of Durham, North Carolina, 1945–2014

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew H Whittemore

Abstract

This paper investigates the distribution of and motivations for zoning decisions that decreased allowed residential density or prevented denser residential development in urbanized portions of Durham, North Carolina, from 1945 through 2014. It presents quantitative evidence that prior to 1985, racial demographics offer a better explanation for the distribution of these potentially exclusionary decisions than median incomes or homeownership rates. This finding is substantiated by qualitative evidence from plans, records of public hearings, and other primary materials pertinent to zoning decisions affecting residential land use. The paper secondly presents evidence that since 1985, the city has made residential zoning decisions that have collectively entailed less dissimilar treatment of areas of different racial characteristics, and suggests reasons for this shift based on further research of primary materials. These findings inform us of the role of racial bias in zoning beyond the era of explicit racial zoning in the early 20th-century.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew H Whittemore, 2018. "The role of racial bias in exclusionary zoning: The case of Durham, North Carolina, 1945–2014," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(4), pages 826-847, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:50:y:2018:i:4:p:826-847
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X18755144
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X18755144
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X18755144?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William A. Fischel, 2004. "An Economic History of Zoning and a Cure for its Exclusionary Effects," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(2), pages 317-340, February.
    2. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ward, Bryce A., 2009. "The causes and consequences of land use regulation: Evidence from Greater Boston," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 265-278, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christian A. L. Hilber, 2017. "The Economic Implications of House Price Capitalization: A Synthesis," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-339, April.
    2. Kahn, Matthew E., 2011. "Do liberal cities limit new housing development? Evidence from California," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 223-228, March.
    3. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2013. "On the origins of land use regulations: Theory and evidence from US metro areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 29-43.
    4. Guillaume POUYANNE & Frederic GASCHET, 2013. "The Effect Of Current And Future Land Use On House Prices," ERSA conference papers ersa13p249, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Lima, Ricardo Carvalho de Andrade & Silveira Neto, Raul da Mota, 2019. "Zoning ordinances and the housing market in developing countries: Evidence from Brazilian municipalities," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    6. Brian Jansen & Edwin Mills, 2013. "Distortions Resulting from Residential Land Use Controls in Metropolitan Areas," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 193-202, January.
    7. Matthew C. Record, 2021. "Offsetting Risk in a Neoliberal Environment: The Link between Asset-Based Welfare and NIMBYism," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Davis, Jenna, 2021. "How do upzonings impact neighborhood demographic change? Examining the link between land use policy and gentrification in New York City," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    9. Ganong, Peter & Shoag, Daniel, 2017. "Why has regional income convergence in the U.S. declined?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 76-90.
    10. Kling, Hannah KM, 2020. "Land-Use Regulations As Exclusion: A GIS Analysis," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), February.
    11. Shertzer, Allison & Twinam, Tate & Walsh, Randall P., 2022. "Zoning and segregation in urban economic history," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Gyourko, Joseph & Molloy, Raven, 2015. "Regulation and Housing Supply," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1289-1337, Elsevier.
    13. Hilber, Christian A. L., 2011. "The economics implications of house price capitalization a survey of an emerging literature," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58596, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Gilbert, Catherine & Gurran, Nicole, 2021. "Can ceding planning controls for major projects support metropolitan housing supply and diversity? The case of Sydney, Australia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    15. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2020. "Housing, urban growth and inequalities: The limits to deregulation and upzoning in reducing economic and spatial inequality," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(2), pages 223-248, February.
    16. Hilber, Christian A.L., 2010. "New housing supply and the dilution of social capital," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 419-437, May.
    17. Elliot Anenberg & Edward Kung, 2018. "Can More Housing Supply Solve the Affordability Crisis? Evidence from a Neighborhood Choice Model," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-035, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    18. Gyourko, Joseph & Hartley, Jonathan S. & Krimmel, Jacob, 2021. "The local residential land use regulatory environment across U.S. housing markets: Evidence from a new Wharton index," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    19. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    20. Katharina Knoll & Moritz Schularick & Thomas Steger, 2017. "No Price Like Home: Global House Prices, 1870-2012," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 331-353, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:50:y:2018:i:4:p:826-847. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.