Researchers have responded to urban sprawl, congestion, and
pollution by assessing alternatives such as smart growth, new
urbanism, and transit-oriented development. Underlying this has
been the presumption that, for these options to be given serious
consideration as part of policy reform, science has to prove that
they will reduce auto use and increase transit, walking, and other
physical activity. Zoned Out forcefully argues that the debate
about transportation and land-use planning in the United States has
been distorted by a myth-the myth that urban sprawl is the result
of a free market. According to this myth, low-density,
auto-dependent development dominates U.S. metropolitan areas
because that is what Americans prefer.
Jonathan Levine confronts the free market myth by pointing out
that land development is already one of the most regulated sectors
of the U.S. economy. Noting that local governments use their
regulatory powers to lower densities, segregate different types of
land uses, and mandate large roadways and parking lots, he argues
that the design template for urban sprawl is written into the
land-use regulations of thousands of municipalities nationwide.
These regulations and the skewed thinking that underlies current
debate mean that policy innovation, market forces, and the
compact-development alternatives they might produce are often
"zoned out" of our metropolitan areas.
In debunking the market myth, Levine articulates an important
paradigm shift. Where people believe that current land-use
development is governed by a free-market, any proposal for policy
reform is seen as a market intervention and a limitation on
consumer choice, and any proposal carries a highburden of
scientific proof that it will be effective. By reorienting the
debate, Levine shows that the burden of scientific proof that was
the lynchpin of transportation and land-use debates has been
misassigned, and that, far from impeding market forces or limiting
consumer choice, policy reform that removes regulatory obstacles
would enhance both. A groundbreaking work in urban planning,
transportation and land-use policy, Zoned Out challenges a policy
environment in which scientific uncertainty is used to reinforce
the status quo of sprawl and its negative consequences for people
and their communities.
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