To varying degrees, most municipalities regulate urban development with zoning, density restrictions and parking requirements. These policies restrict the housing supply and urban density relative to what it could be in a free market. This paper is a review of the literature that measures the price effects of a variety of land-use regulations. The literature primarily finds that both traditional land-use policies and newer policies, such as smart growth and inclusionary zoning, increase the cost of housing. And because housing takes up a larger share of the budgets of lower-income households relative to higher-income households, these policies are regressive -- that is, a disproportionate share of the costs fall on the relatively poor.
