Does zoning follow highways?

We study whether local zoning policies are modified in response to demand shocks generated by new highways. We focus on the case of Spain during the period 1995-2007. The empirical strategy compares the variation in the amount of developable land before-after the construction of the highway in treat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: García López, Miquel-Àngel|||0000-0002-0515-2922, Solé Ollé, Albert, Viladecans Marsal, Elisabet|||0000-0003-3722-2371
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:322058
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/322058
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2015.05.008
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Highways
Urban land increase
Zoning
Descripción
Sumario:We study whether local zoning policies are modified in response to demand shocks generated by new highways. We focus on the case of Spain during the period 1995-2007. The empirical strategy compares the variation in the amount of developable land before-after the construction of the highway in treated municipalities and in control municipalities with similar pre-treatment traits. Our results show that, following the construction of a highway, municipalities converted a huge amount of land from rural to urban uses. The amount of new land declared to be developable was larger in places with low construction costs or high demand, suggesting that zoning follows market forces. However, the impact of the highway was lower in places where residents were less favorable to development or where developers had more influence over zoning policies. Local political factors thus impede the full adaptation of zoning to economic changes.