ABSTRACT
City-planning processes in each metropolitan area are fragmented into different plans and policies for each local government. Moreover, most such plans are drawn up and modified in each locality with little regard to what is happening in the rest of the metropolitan area. What are the key ways in which the real forces operating in metropolitan-area and housing markets affect city-planning practices, and how do real cityplanning practices affect those housing markets? The first step in understanding these mutually causative forces is to properly conceive of the way metropolitan-area housing markets actually operate. In periods of rapid housing construction, the overall supply of housing in a metropolitan area may rise faster than the demand for it. Even if most of the newly built housing is in outlying suburbs, the resulting increase in overall housing supply can affect neighborhoods throughout the metropolitan area.
