Speaker
Description
The increasing rigidity of legal and regulatory frameworks in spatial planning has hindered the ability to address contemporary challenges, including climate adaptation, demographic shifts, and rapidly changing local needs such as housing shortages or surpluses. Zoning, often criticized for perpetuating outdated models rooted in modernist or neoliberal priorities, has emerged in new forms with a different normative orientation. Future Zones represent an innovative reimagining of traditional regulatory instruments, enabling flexibility, sustainability, and equity while countering legislative inertia in urban and regional development.
This paper explores the legal underpinnings and characteristics of these “third-generation zones,” focusing on their role as catalysts for systemic change. Using a comparative and systematic approach, the study examines key dimensions:
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Time – The legal mechanisms governing the longevity, adaptability, and dissolution of zones.
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Form – How legal frameworks influence the evolution of zone boundaries and their prescribed dynamics.
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Goal – The ideological and practical objectives encoded in zoning regulations.
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Emergence – The conditions under which zones arise, contrasting top-down imposition with collaborative, stakeholder-driven planning.
By situating “Future Zones” within existing legal frameworks, this paper demonstrates their potential to reconcile tensions between public and private rights, foster inclusive governance, and create equitable and resilient urban spaces. The findings provide actionable insights into how planning law can evolve to meet the challenges of sustainability and just transitions in times of crisis.
References
Levine, J. (2010) Zoned Out: Regulation, Markets, and Choices in Transportation and Metropolitan Land Use. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Tallman, S. and Vermette, D. (2024) Metrocoalescence: a zoning paradigm for vibrant cities. 1st edn. Trinidad: Urban Atelier.
Breach, A. (2020) ‘Planning for the Future. How flexible zoning will end the housing crisis’. Centre for Cities.
| Keywords | Spatial planning law; zoning paradigms; adaptive governance |
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| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
