Zoned in the USA : : The Origins and Implications of American Land-Use Regulation / / Sonia A. Hirt.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Hirt, Sonia A.,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (256 p.) :; 11 halftones, 5 line drawings, 11 tables, 3 charts

Why are American cities, suburbs, and towns so distinct? Compared to European cities, those in the United States are characterized by lower densities and greater distances; neat, geometric layouts; an abundance of green space; a greater level of social segregation reflected in space; and-perhaps most noticeably-a greater share of individual, single-family detached housing. In Zoned in the USA, Sonia A. Hirt argues that zoning laws are among the important but understudied reasons for the cross-continental differences.Hirt shows that rather than being imported from Europe, U.S. municipal zoning law was in fact an institution that quickly developed its own, distinctly American profile. A distinct spatial culture of individualism-founded on an ideal of separate, single-family residences apart from the dirt and turmoil of industrial and agricultural production-has driven much of municipal regulation, defined land-use, and, ultimately, shaped American life. Hirt explores municipal zoning from a comparative and international perspective, drawing on archival resources and contemporary land-use laws from England, Germany, France, Australia, Russia, Canada, and Japan to challenge assumptions about American cities and the laws that guide them.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. An American Model Of Land-Use Control -- 1. America's Housing Trademark -- 2. How The System Works -- 3. How Others Do It -- 4. Roots -- 5. American Beginnings In A Comparative Context -- 6. The Formative Years Of American Zoning -- Conclusion. The Promises And Paradoxes Of Residential Zoning -- Notes -- References -- Index