An Explainer: Zoning

Zoning laws are laws of local municipal governments or other local authorities that dictate the use of land and construction of buildings. In zoning, authorities divide areas of land in to different zones where different land use patterns are enforced.

PropGuide Explains Zoning

Zoning laws exist in most parts of the world. Zoning restrictions are intended to prevent certain patterns of land use in certain neighbourhoods. For instance, zoning laws may prevent a commercial outlet from operating in a residential area. Zoning law, in some regions, also restrict the height of buildings through stipulating an upper ceiling on the floor space built on a certain area of land. Zoning laws may also stipulate the green spaces, building density, the usage of lots and the types of businesses allowed in a certain region.

Zoning laws may also restrict the number of pets, and the type of animals a household can own. For instance, in an urban residential area, zoning restrictions may not allow cows or buffaloes as pets but, in a rural area they may.

A major argument against zoning restrictions is that land use patterns are more efficient when they are decided by the market. When they are decided by the market, for example, high-rise buildings would be built where the demand for real estate is the highest, and industrial outlets would be built where it makes the most economic sense to build them.

The zoning laws in India are often known to restrict efficient patterns of land use. The permissible building height is considered to be low, even in the densest Indian cities. These, at times, are also weakly enforced. In major cities of the developed countries, real estate developers are expected to build sufficient civic infrastructure in the neighbourhood where they build high-rise structures. But, this is not often the case, even in major Indian cities. For instance, developers may or may not build a sufficient parking around the project.

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