The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas

We argue that anti-density zoning increases black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in white jurisdictions. Drawing on census data and land regulation indicators compiled by Pendall, we estimate a series of regression models to measure the effect of maximum density zoning on black segregation. Results estimated using ordinary least squares indicate a strong and significant cross-sectional relationship between low-density zoning and racial segregation, even after controlling for other zoning policies and a variety of metropolitan characteristics. This relationship persists under two-stage least squares estimation, using year of statehood as an exogenous source of zoning. Both estimation strategies also suggest that anti-density zoning inhibits desegregation over time. Metropolitan areas where density restrictions prevail among municipalities thus exhibit higher levels of racial segregation at any point in time and experience smaller declines in segregation across time