Land Use Regulations and Urban Growth of African Americans

Abstract

Land-use regulations can restrict urban growth by increasing housing costs. This paper
investigates the heterogeneous effects of land-use regulations among different racial groups.
Using Census data from 202 U.S. metropolitan areas from 1980 to 2010, we investigate how
land-use regulations affect changes in the share of African Americans in response to local
economic demand. We find that highly regulated metropolitan areas experienced a much
smaller increase (sometimes a decrease) in the share of blacks in response to an increase in
local labor demand. These results suggest that land-use regulations can restrict the urban
growth of African Americans in areas with demand.

Keywords: Land-use Regulation, Housing Supply, Urban Growth, African Americans

JEL Classification: J15 R31 R52