Nuancing Nimbyism: Exploring Opposition to Densification

• In Event: Attitudes About Climate Upheaval and the Development-Conservation Tradeoff

Abstract

Land is scarce in most urban areas around the world. This scarcity makes efficient use of available space a necessity. Policymakers in the Global North have begun to formulate strategies aiming at densifying existing urban settlements to enhance the optimal and intensive land use. The public generally accepts such densification policies as long as they do not concern one’s own neighbourhood or property, making densification a classic example of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) opposition. We aim to identify and examine public opinion and this local opposition of densification policies in Switzerland, a particularly interesting case due to its high population density, its comparatively very high local autonomy and its recent policy shift in spatial planning policies towards densification. Our analysis is based on an adaptive, selection-based conjoint survey experiment with a representative sample of 3,003 residents from the Canton of Zurich, the most populous Swiss subnational unit. Specifically, we test how structural density, transportation supply, local recreation and different aspects of housing quality affect the acceptance or opposition of densification in respondents’ neighbourhood. Results indicate that residents oppose densification mainly because they are highly satisfied with the status quo and are thus reluctant to accept changes to the built environment. The implications of our results are highly relevant to nuance discussions around Nimbyism and link it to the conservation of the built environment and quality of life aspects.

Authors

• Michael Wicki, ETH Zurich

• David Kaufmann, ETH Zürich