Adaptive Rezoning for Social Equity, Affordability and Resilience

Authors

Shelby D. Green, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In this Article, I will show how the legacies of the institutional barriers to housing still persist to deprive many of the predicates for economic thriving and personal flourishing and how existing zoning philosophy cannot be justified by the need to protect health and safety. Righting the inequities of the past and of the present will require dismantling some of the institutions, apparently legitimate and well-meaning, but operating devilishly to create and perpetuate hardship and exclusion. This will require laying bare the institutions to reveal their ignoble essence. We need a radical overhaul of the historic zoning regime from one that excludes to one that is prescriptive of inclusion. We must imagine and construct a new world, one that is open and sustainable for living and against the looming impacts of climate change. We can do this by what I call adaptive rezoning. In laying out the contours of this concept, I will offer comment on the various initiatives around the country for inclusive and sustainable cities (including those that pertain to the impacts of climate change) and offer my own ideas for a plan for social and economic justice.

Recommended Citation

Shelby D. Green, Adaptive Rezoning for Social Equity, Affordability and Resilience, 52 Seton Hall L. Rev. 1325 (2022), https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/1240/.