ABSTRACT
Zoning is usually associated with a local regulatory system of land use planning and development control and the technical work of municipal planners and architects. This chapter argues that more attention should be paid to the formation and negotiation of land use zoning. Drawing on Bowker and Star's notion of categorical work, we study how two trajectories of land use zoning in Vancouver, Canada, which are distributed in time, operate their own classificatory principles to make planning work. The analysis shows how zoning is a ‘boundary object’ accommodating emerging conceptual, organisational and political dimensions. Simultaneously, the chapter engages in a discussion whereby the notion of the non-modern city is introduced to illustrate how knowledge depends on heterogeneous ensembles of actors, things and networks.
