Greetings—
To address the country’s declining rate of housing construction, cities are looking to upzoning—the process of reforming land-use laws to increase the scale of potential new construction—to allow greater housing density, development, and affordability.
New Urban Institute analysis explores whether, and to what extent, these upzonings actually generate more housing by examining how housing supply in New York City and Philadelphia evolved following these major zoning changes.
Key findings include:
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New York City and Philadelphia upzonings enabled more housing development. In New York City, the researchers estimated that seven neighborhood-scale upzonings collectively resulted in more than 4,000 additional housing units within four years after rezoning compared with the number of added units on similar parcels that were not upzoned. In Philadelphia, the researchers found that zoning reform contributed to a meaningful increase in permitting citywide.
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The Philadelphia upzonings concentrated development in larger projects. Though the Philadelphia upzonings increased the number of permitted units, they did not substantially increase the number of projects.
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Upzoning did not increase permitting or housing supply in some areas, likely because of preexisting, weaker housing markets.
Upzoning had a significant impact on housing supply in many, but not all, of the upzoned New York City neighborhoods. Similarly, despite the citywide nature of Philadelphia’s upzoning, the researchers did not find evidence that the changes shifted where developers applied for permits; neighborhoods that had little demand before the rezoning did not attract a substantial share of new projects after.
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The timing of upzoning’s effects varied. Upzoned neighborhoods in New York City experienced statistically significant increases in housing production within a few years after upzoning, with effects often growing over time. In contrast, the Philadelphia upzoning did not have a statistically significant effect on permitting until six years after zoning reform.
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Thanks,
- The Stakeholder Outreach team
U R B A N I N S T I T U T E
www.urban.org
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