¶ … New York City's zoning laws as a principle means of regulating land use. Use four relevant sources of information.

Through zoning, a city regulates building size, population density and the way land is used. Zoning recognizes the changing demographic and economic conditions of the city and is a key tool for carrying out planning policy.

Land Use and Zoning

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What public purpose does zoning attempt to serve?

New York City enacted the nation's first comprehensive zoning resolution in 1916 and continues to be a leader in zoning policy in the United States. Zoning really helps shape a city. The main purpose of zoning is to regulate the way land is used, to control population density and to have some type of control on building size.

New York City's Department of Planning is responsible for implementing the zoning regulations. In order to effectively carry out the concepts identified by the zoning regulations, the city has been divided into three basic zoning districts: residential, commercial and manufacturing. These categories are then further subdivided into retail or manufacturing areas, parking, building or residential. Areas designated as public parks do not fall under these regulations.

New York City's zoning laws govern the construction, alteration, movement, replacement or maintenance of buildings; the conduct and density of residential, commercial, industrial and public service activities; the areas and dimensions of sites; the appearance, design, height, bulk and placement of structures on each site and the provision of open space. Basically, most development or use of unimproved land has to meet zoning provisions before anything can be done to improve the property.

Discuss some of the key techniques and methods the NYC Zoning Resolution adopts to meet these goals.

Each of the individual zoning districts regulates the permitted use of land that falls under its jurisdiction in order...

The city has a variety of standards and amendments in place that control the physical development of the city to foster a harmonious, convenient, workable relationship among land uses.
The Planning Department takes into account such factors as building size and population density. According to the regulations, the maximum size of a building on a lot is determined by the floor area ratio assigned in the Zoning Resolution to each zoning district. Population density is controlled by the requirement, which varies per district that a set number of square feet of lot area are provided per dwelling unit or room (NYC Dept. Of Planning).

There are also regulations for handling issues such as open space, parking and lot coverage to prevent and/or minimize traffic congestion and to avoid the construction of building of excessive size in relationship to the available land around them. Providing adequate parking and maintaining private and public lands are also protected and enforced by zoning regulations.

Basically, any use of land or the construction of buildings is taken into consideration to insure that all development projects are improvements and provide for enhanced sites that are harmonious to what already exists.

To what extent do you think the methods and techniques are effective?

As with any laws, the zoning regulations are only as effective as the people who are enforcing them. First, we have to note the difference between zoning and planning. Zoning is the tool that cities and municipalities use to control the use of land. Planning is a very exacting method whereby a city is designed according to what would work best for the population, the land and often, the environment.

As with any large city, New York's zoning laws may have become a victim of too many visionaries. The landscape of the city has changed tremendously in the past century and in some…