Inclusionary zoning is a policy tool that ties the production of affordable homes to the production of new market-rate housing by requiring, or providing incentives to encourage, developers to reserve a share of units in new residential developments for low- or moderate-income households. While hundreds of communities have established inclusionary zoning programs since the first policy was adopted in 1972, relatively little is known about the effects of these programs on local housing markets.

This report by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and the Center for Housing Policy helps to advance the current understanding of inclusionary zoning by answering the following questions about programs in three metropolitan areas:

1. What kinds of jurisdictions have adopted inclusionary zoning programs?
2. How much affordable housing has been produced by these programs, and what factors have influenced production levels?
3. What effects have inclusionary zoning programs had on the price and production of market-rate housing in these markets?

A policy brief summarizing the findings is also available.

Key Findings

• Finds no evidence that IZ programs have reduced housing production in the San Francisco area, and find evidence
  of only slight effects on production in the Boston area.
• Finds that IZ policies have produced only a modest number of affordable housing units, suggesting that IZ by itself is not a panacea for a community’s
  affordable housing challenges.