Introduction

Alex Aragonia speaks with Nolan Gray, author of How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It. He says zoning is a small part of the planning ecosystem in North America that does two things: radically segregates land uses and restricts densities. In many cases, he argues, zoning codes will explicitly say you're only allowed to build so much floor area on this lot because of the district you've been assigned to. So it's very strictly segregating the city on the basis of land use. And mandating a particular form of growth and development doesn't necessarily work for everyone.