ABSTRACT
Building codes regulate residential construction in virtually every central city in the United States. These codes consist of standards and specifications de signed to provide minimum safeguards in the construction of buildings to protect the people who live and work in them from the dangers of building collapse. While they obviously are important for public safety, building codes have been blamed by a series of national commissions and academic experts for the crisis in affordable housing in the United States and for the inability of central cities to compete successfully for economic growth (e.g., Downs 1991, Dowall and Landis 1982, Dowall 1984, Field and Rivkin 1975, Fischel 1990).
