ABSTRACT
Zoning makes sense when understood as part of an institutional fabric. But what methods can capture a fuller extent of zoning as an institution? This chapter answers three questions: What is an institution? Why are institutions useful for understanding zoning and planning? How can planners study zoning-and other institutions-in a way that helps identify spaces for justice-oriented change? It identifies four types of institutional threads that shape local land use: formal rules, informal practices, social norms, and networks and equips planners with a step-by-step guide to the use of institutional analysis in the study of land use tools.
