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Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World

by Sara C. Bronin (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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An eye-opening exploration of one of the little-known levers that controls our world―zoning codes―and a call-to-arms for using them to improve American society at every level.

Zoning codes dictate how and where we can build housing, factories, restaurants, and parks. They limit how tall buildings can be and where trees can be planted. They have become the most significant regulatory power of local government, ultimately determining how we experience our cities. Yet zoning remains invisible.

In Key to the City, legal scholar and architect Sara C. Bronin examines how zoning became such a prevailing force and reveals its impact―and its potential for good. Outdated zoning codes have maintained racial segregation, prioritized cars over people, and enabled great ecological harm. But, as Bronin argues, once we recognize the power of zoning, we can harness it to create the communities we desire, and deserve. Drawing on her own experience leading the overhaul of Hartford’s zoning code and exploring the efforts of activists and city planners across the country, Bronin shows how new codes are reshaping our cities―from Baltimore to Chicago, Las Vegas to Minneapolis, and beyond. In Boston, a law fought for by a passionate group of organizers, farmers, and beekeepers is transforming the city into a haven for urban farming. In Tucson, zoning codes are mitigating the impacts of climate change and drought-proofing neighborhoods in peril. In Delray Beach, Florida, a new code aims to capture and maintain the town’s colorful spirit through its architecture.

With clarity and insight, Bronin demystifies the power of an inscrutable organizing force in our lives and invites us to see zoning as a revolutionary vehicle for change. In Key to the City, she puts forward a practical and energizing vision for how we can reimagine our communities.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0393881660
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0393881660
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    October 1, 2024
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  7. Print length
    240 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Sara Bronin] is thoughtful and armed with an engaging trove of anecdotes about modern zoning reform. She writes fluently and has important insights."
― Edward Glaeser, Wall Street Journal

"Sara Bronin examines zoning with a critical but sympathetic eye … bring[ing] deep experience to the topic … and makes a case for using these rules for progressive aims."
― David Zipper, Bloomberg

"Ardent and articulate … Bronin brings to life the impact of zoning on people and places and makes a convincing case for its importance."
― Kirkus Reviews

"Lively … [Key to the City] is a brisk, informative overview of America’s urban planning woes and wins."
― Publishers Weekly

"As America’s cities face the acute challenges of unaffordable housing, underutilized land, and declining neighborhood prospects, more city leaders are recognizing that zoning policies are part of the problem but also seeing how zoning reforms can be part of the solution. Sara C. Bronin astutely explains all sides of the dialogue. Better yet, she presents creative pathways to constructive outcomes for urban residents and for city futures."
― Henry Cisneros, former secretary of housing and urban development and former mayor of San Antonio, Texas

"Progress in our cities is in the details. Through vibrant examples and compelling illustrations, Sara C. Bronin demystifies zoning laws and reveals how thoughtful urban planning can create thriving, resilient communities and, unfortunately, what happens in our cities when those laws are not in place."
― Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, former mayor of Baltimore

"Zoning laws dictate the shape of cities far more than the designs of any architect. Far too often they have been less a useful tool than a straitjacket, forcing cities to develop according to patterns that no longer make sense. In Key to the City, Sara C. Bronin argues that the solution is not to abolish zoning but to reimagine it, showing us how we can rewrite our zoning codes in the hope of using them to bring about the civilized cities that we deserve."
― Paul Goldberger, author of Why Architecture Matters and Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School

"Sara C. Bronin has written a wise, illuminating survey that shows how land use policy rules everything around us. As an expert with a comprehensive grasp on both politics and history, she’s the perfect guide to this complicated, controversial subject."
― Henry Grabar, author of Paved Paradise and Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design

About the Author

Sara C. Bronin is an architect, attorney, and policymaker, and professor at Cornell University. Born and raised in Houston (the only large city in the U.S. without zoning), she divides her time between Hartford, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (October 1, 2024)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393881660
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393881660
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding book written by a #1 expert in the field
5 out of 5 stars
Outstanding book written by a #1 expert in the field
Sara Bronin has written a thought-provoking narrative of contrasting urban planning in different cities that influences the inhabitants’ daily lives. I thoroughly enjoyed learning not only of the history of several American cities, but also of what the future holds and what can change for the better. Bronin’s passion for intelligent and thoughtful planning shines through. I believe that all architect students and city planners should read this book, but it is also written to be understandable (and enjoyable!) for a layperson like me.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Michael Lewyn
    5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding, even if a bit moderate for my tastes
    Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Like more libertarian writers, Bronin seems to agree that zoning generally does more harm than good: it has created a nationwide housing shortage by limiting the number of units that can be built and has made American cities and suburbs unnecessarily car-dependent (and thus more polluting). Like Nolan Gray in Arbitrary Lines, Bronin explains the harm done by the status quo in easy-to-understand language.

    But unlike libertarians, Bronin tries to show how zoning can be used to make cities more environmentally friendly and more pleasant. For example, most zoning codes require buildings to be set back far from the street, which requires long walks from sidewalks to jobs and offices- but more enlightened codes require buildings to be closer to the street, making streets more visually interesting and pedestrian-friendly.

    I'm not completely persuaded by Bronin's conclusions, for two reasons. First, even if the ideal zoning code would be better than no zoning, the zoning status quo is (in my view) worse- so unless most local governments suddenly decide to adopt Bronin's priorities, the country would be cheaper and less polluted with no zoning at all.

    Second, even some seemingly beneficial zoning policies might have unintended costs. For example, Bronin praises a zoning code that requires buildings to "have a ... mix of studios, one-bedrooms, and apartments with two or more bedrooms." Bronin believes that this requirement benefits cities by bringing in families who might purchase more stuff from area retailers. But if government limits the cheapest, smallest apartments, those apartments will be more expensive, thus harming people at the bottom of the income ladder (including families who are willing to pay for less space) . Moreover, I very much doubt that two-bedroom apartment will always be occupied by families (as opposed to single roommates).
    One person found this helpful
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  • tom mccudden
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting book about the hidden rules than can influence so much of a city's life
    Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Very interesting introduction to zoning and what it means to how cities are made and unmade. Somewhat on the technical side, explaining how zoning can do X or Y. The politics of it all are mentioned, but not deeply explored. But the central point -- that seemingly obscure rules already shape our lives, and we should make the effects of zoning intentional instead of the artifacts of 100 year old decisions, is spot on. This book is not for those who want to be told that one single fix will make their cities perfect and those changes won't require a lot of study and honest attention to competing interests. Definitely recommend it if you care about cities.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Logan
    3.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction dragged down by a centrist manifesto.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2024
    The passage about improving a street by reintroducing cars was surprising, while the author suggesting a roll back of First Amendment jurisprudence was alarming.

    Key to the City is a discussion of zoning in the united states and how it affects daily life. The book uses a case study approach of telling the stories of different cities and towns in the U.S. and how choices about zoning have changed those cities, earlier on for the worse, but now for the better, mostly.

    The book has a good approach to the problems created by zoning, specifically treating the topic as bigger than zoning. There is the more typical discussion of car infrastructure, but the book also looks at food, industry, nightlife, and building codes or land use more generally. The author is skilled at breaking down the minutia and explaining it for a general audience. The discussions are broad in scope throughout the United States, and address rural areas, even if Hartford, CT is the song's refrain of where the author was on the planning committee.

    It is also NIMBY-lite. Acknowledging the problems that arose out of zoning policy arising from the Supreme Court decision in Euclid, including the bigoted portions of the decision itself, the author is interested in reform, not revolution. Some of it seems reasonable, making moderate improvements where the perfect is not the enemy of the good. Some of it seems wackadoodle, drawn from a technocratic satire: the 15 minute city They warned you about. This sometimes reaches the point where the book contradicts itself, where the spirit of the law trumping the letter leads to takes that I can square, but with effort.

    There are a lot of personal asides that are vaguely objectionable. The afterward thanks the editor for making the book less wonkish, but I think that they ought to have zagged, using the author's adroit technical writing to educate rather than feeling the need to humanize. It is not offensive (contra another reviewer on Swift; my specific complaints are more blog grade), but it is unpersuasive. It does nothing for the author's thesis. At worst, it is repeating the old mistakes in a new way. But it is this quality that makes the book worth recommending.

    Thus, this is one of those "if you read one book on the topic" books. It is not comprehensive, but if you are the sort of person who is otherwise disinterested in the concept of regulation creating policy, it may help you see what us wonks are wonking over.

    My thanks to the author, Sara C. Bronin, for writing the book, and to the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, for making the ARC available to me.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • notjustmary
    5.0 out of 5 stars Demystifies Zoning for Lay Leaders
    Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Having read Sara Bronin's imminently readable Key to the City, I now have a big picture sense of the vital, not widely understood role of zoning, its importance, and its unintended (sometimes not) consequences.
    Most elected officials and citizen planning commissioners do not understand zoning -- yet they're not in a position to admit it publicly. Give them Key to the City. Buy it for them, give it to them. Buy it in bulk and give it to all of your community's leaders.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book written by a #1 expert in the field
    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Sara Bronin has written a thought-provoking narrative of contrasting urban planning in different cities that influences the inhabitants’ daily lives. I thoroughly enjoyed learning not only of the history of several American cities, but also of what the future holds and what can change for the better. Bronin’s passion for intelligent and thoughtful planning shines through. I believe that all architect students and city planners should read this book, but it is also written to be understandable (and enjoyable!) for a layperson like me.
    Customer image
    Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Outstanding book written by a #1 expert in the field

    Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2024
    Sara Bronin has written a thought-provoking narrative of contrasting urban planning in different cities that influences the inhabitants’ daily lives. I thoroughly enjoyed learning not only of the history of several American cities, but also of what the future holds and what can change for the better. Bronin’s passion for intelligent and thoughtful planning shines through. I believe that all architect students and city planners should read this book, but it is also written to be understandable (and enjoyable!) for a layperson like me.
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    2 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opener
    Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I have encountered the word “zoning” often in the construction management industry, but this book made me see the bigger picture. Zoning is more than just how high a building can be or whether it is for residential or commercial use. Key to the City opened my eyes to how zoning can shape any area, anywhere.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Vincent Michael
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well written with good examples
    Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Well written with good examples
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