No Light Rail in Vancouver!

Responsive Planning vs. Prescriptive Planning

Nov 16

2007

Houston famously has no zoning, but most American cities have some kind of planning and zoning. The Antiplanner’s faithful ally, Wendell Cox, divides these cities into two kinds: those with responsive planning and those with prescriptive planning.

Responsive planning, said Cox in his presentation (3.8MB PowerPoint show) to the Preserving the American Dream conference in San Jose, is planning that zones land in response to market needs as expressed by developer’s plans. Prescriptive planning, such as smart growth, tries to impose planners’ visions on the cities and surrounding countrysides.

Smart-growth advocates often claim that responsive planning is “developer driven,” which in a sense is true. But developers in turn are driven by the market, which is driven by what people want.

Cox shows that prescriptive planning can increase housing prices by the equivalent of 10 years of median family incomes. This high cost is in turn driving people out of the regions with prescriptive planning. Were it not for foreign immigration, the population of regions like Boston and San Diego would be declining at 4 percent or more per year. While Portland is growing, most of that growth is taking place outside of its urban-growth boundary (and the growth that is left is driven by California’s even higher housing costs).

The influence of planning on housing affordability is hotly debated among economists and planners. Cox’s presentation presents several important new concepts that will improve that debate.

A DVD of Cox’s presentation is available for $5 plus shipping; to order, contact the American Dream Coalition.

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Reprinted from The Antiplanner