ABSTRACT
Zoning has multiple origins and serves multiple purposes. Six stories, which partially overlap, can be told to capture this historical and functional diversity, stories in which dangers and nuisances, social identity and difference, property values, aesthetic considerations, ecological concerns, and problems of governance feature prominently. They show the confluence of different interests in the making of zoning and in its current evolution. The ability to use zoning in the pursuit of such varied objectives and the paucity of other policy instruments explain our continued reliance on this rather weak tool in the management of urban development.
