U.S. and European Zoning, Compared

Cities in Germany, France, and the UK manage land use and so do cities in the United States. Then why are the outcomes so different?

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Resource on this topic:
Hirt, S. (2012). Mixed use by default: How the Europeans (don’t) zone. Journal of Planning Literature, 27(4), 375-393.

Hirt, S. (2007). The devil is in the definitions: Contrasting American and German approaches to zoning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 73(4), 436-450.

Produced by Dave Amos and the fine folks at Standard Studios.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
Black Lives Matter.

[incubus_the_man]

I think that the US system has helped larger companies like Walmart to grow while hurting smaller family owned businesses. It's making it more expensive to become an entrepreneur.

[realdragon]

People from US: Car is very useful because it gives a lot of freedom and trip to grocery takes only 25 minutes
Me an European: 10 minute walk to store is too much

[awsomemodels]

Us city planning will always blow my mind, it's just crazy how you can have a very large residential area without a single store in it .

[VaalerianG]

American zoning is even weirder than what I thought, discovering that the zoning from Sim City was not a weird oversimplification for the sake of gameplay but actually based on the USA was a shock.

[theprofessionalfence-sitter]

It always perplexed me how Americans seem to pride themselves on their sense of individualism and disdain for central planning but also choose to live in suburbs with buildings more indistinguishable than even the worst commie blocks where you're not even allowed to open a small pub or supermarket.

[unakaposi]

I can't imagine not having a store, bakery, coffee shop in walking distance from anywhere I live or staying as a tourist, that's horrible. I am Croatian, now living in Ireland, traveled all over the Europe. I just can't imagine it at all.

[Wozza]

I'm from England, my Dad was able to convert half our garage into an office when he first started his own business. I was only a kid but we were pretty broke and he wouldn't have had a chance if he was paying rent on even the smallest of office spaces. That business is still going over a decade later with employees in a proper office. To me that shows that the flexibility to run a business like this helps businesses to thrive, particularly small ones. It sounds like this would have been basically impossible in the US, despite there literally not being even a sign for the business outside.

[gchecosse]

As a UK person, now Sim City makes sense. I always thought that having different zones was just a stylised thing invented for the game.

[NotJustBikes]

This is a great summary. I'll definitely be linking people to this video when discussing alternatives to Euclidean zoning.

Another fascinating zoning method is Japanese zoning, which is a variation on the pyramid method mentioned in this video. The channel "Life Where I'm From" did a great video about Japanese zoning that I recommend watching, if you're interested in good zoning methods.

[TheUncannyF]

I'm from Poland, the way US zoning works is utterly alien to me. It seems totally against basic human needs.
Why not allow corner shops? Until I've learned about US zoning such a concept didn't even cross my mind. Corner shops are vitally important, you can just walk to a corner shop, get your groceries and you're done. There are corner shops everywhere in Poland. One does not need to drive to a mall to get basic groceries - even in smaller towns. Moreover, you're free to start up a "small industry" kind of business right in your home/garage - no permits required.

Even during the soviet era things were better than in the US right now.
Way back then, the policy was that everyone shall have housing, so big apartment blocks/towers were built all over the country (take WW2 into consideration - wide-spread destruction etc - people needed somewhere to live).
However, in-between those towers there was always some, let's say 'service center', which might include: groceries, shops, bank, post office, kindergarten, etc. - because these are the things that people need. There was a usually a tramline too (or a bus service to the nearest tram).

I cannot understand why the US got is all so wrong :(

[Lazarus]

For those of you who are wondering, yes, I can confirm for an absolute fact that the separation between housing and workplaces was intended to force Americans to drive more and thus spend more money buying gas. I know this because my own grandfather was one of the legislators responsible for this in his home state, and he directly told me this before he died.

[cmw]

Sim City taught me how stupid US zoning laws were. Even in that game it was obvious to me that sprinkling the zone squares to create mixed use zones led to better outcomes. Forcing everyone to commute to and from the same zones is mind blowingly stupid and allowing more mixed use is one thing that north america can do now on a local level to reduce pollution and climate change.

[geografisica]

I own a small grocery store in Orlando, FL. As a Venezuelan, a country that inherited the European Zoning Model from Spain, the mixed use are a very common thing for me. My purpose was to open a mini grocery store in a Residential medium density area, I wanted to create what is called in Spanish a “Bodega”, that has been very difficult, I had to rent a space in a strip mall and the retail surfaces are usually bigger and more expensive. The other challenge is that even though some customers live close to my store in 4-store buildings, they always take the car, so they prefer to go to a big box store like Walmart than stop by my store to buy milk and bread. Americans are so used to drive that for them walking around the corner to buy basic stuff is unthinkable. Now I am trying to go through online services, that’s the only way to get more customers because my neighbors are not willing to cross the street and go to my small bodega. So my point is, even though zoning can be kind of mixed in some US cities, the American way of life it’s always by the use of a car, no matter how close you are from your customers, they “need” to drive. Anyways, it’s a cultural aspect that I need to get used to if I want my business to succeed.

[aarona.aaronson]

This is very telling
Germany: reason
France: beauty
USA: segregation
UK: weird ancient case-to-case bureaucratic rules noone quite understands

[marktrvls]

In Germany lots of the planning and zoning is focused around public transport too, most of their towns and cities seem to have a large train station around which the city and transport within the city is built

[EricErs]

Mixed zoning is great, at least residential and commercial combined. Having (heavy) industry mixed in is a rarer sight in Germany in my experience. There still is industrial zoning only, on the outskirts or in dedicated areas, e.g. around train stations or highways. Offices should be integrated in combined zones.
Edit: After watching the video, I recommend just watching the video. It's much more detailed than my comment. ;)

[joshuahd]

There's a reason why NYC, Boston, Philadelphia & DC, are economically positive and will always attract ppl because of how their built on walkablity, good public transit and mixed use compared to other US cities, especially down south. I don't see how ppl can put up with sitting in traffic just to go to a grocery store.

[johannespetursson]

Having lived in the US and Finland, the difference mixed-use zoning makes is night and day, and quite literally makes or breaks the livability of a city. Quick suggestion! Try to cut away from your closeups before your body settles at the end of a sentence. I noticed the cut at about 10:44 felt smooth because that movement was minimized.

[NeovanGoth]

Greetings from Munich, Germany. Here landlords actually advertise apartments to be in mixed zones, as it is seen as a locational advantage. People just expect "Geschäfte des täglichen Bedarfs" (everyday necessities) like supermarkets, hairdressers, pharmacies, doctors and so on to be right around the corner, but also not-so-everyday-things like small hardware stores, bicycle workshops, or galleries, in addition to public infrastructure like schools and libraries, as well as recreational facilities like parks, bars, and restaurants. Basically everything that isn't very loud and doesn't stink. Literally everyone who can afford it wants to live in the inner city were almost everything one would need - including office workplaces - can be easily reached by foot or at least in a few minutes bicycle ride. Overall only poorer people and families with need for more space and private gardens can be found in purely residential areas that are considered boring and just not very attractive to many.

This also allows, as already mentioned in the video, a constant and dynamic transformation of the city to become even more livable. As the city extended over time, it encircled a lot of industrial areas formerly formerly lying in the outskirts. As land value rises, industry gradually moves out and and is replaced by residential, commercial and cultural usage.

[DedmenMiller]

In EU, when you're looking for a new place to live, one of the big factors for choosing a place is "how far till the next shopping place".
When you split residential and commercial, the answer to that is always bad.
All my life I've lived (Germany, Netherlands) less than 10 minutes of walk to the next shopping place. Most of my life it was less than 5 minutes to 3! different discounters.
I don't have a car, because I never needed one, but still have a license in case I do.
Imagine having to pay for a car and fuel for my most basic needs. I'd have quite a bit less money, and maybe even have debt, compared to what I have now. Looking at you, Americans.