ABSTRACT

The condition of modernity aspires to be inherently rational - or at least rationalizing - in numerous ways, and modern existence is marked by a plethora of systems for classifying, regulating, standardizing, and controlling the world and its people. Such organizational schemes are linked to the way human society has increasingly functioned over the past two centuries. Zoning is an exemplary instance of the state's organizational capacity to create a rationalized system that controls and guides the actions of individuals, corporations, and institutions. However, zoning in turn depends on the prior existence of a deeply powerful way of abstracting land: the concept of property ownership, with its defined boundaries and legal rights. Businesspeople in real estate value zoning for the stability and predictability it brings to an area and the legal clarity it establishes; a developer or banker knows beforehand what can be done on a property, and what the future of the neighborhood is likely to be.