Social Implications of Upzoning and Density: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 14. Urban Governance I: The Organization of Power

Abstract

To facilitate construction of housing near employment and educational opportunities and address ongoing housing crises, many cities have revised zoning policies that long privileged single-family homes to encourage greater density, a strategy often called upzoning. To date, scholarship on the implications of upzoning has primarily focused on its efficacy in generating new housing units (Freemark 2023); the impact on housing markets, affordability, and neighborhood demographics (Freemark 2020; Kim and Lee 2024; Kuhlmann 2021); and the politics of upzoning, including public support and opposition (Whittemore and BenDor 2019). Absent in much of this work is attention to the experience of upzoning within neighborhoods, and the impact that changes in density may have on residents’ relationships with place and with one another. This paper addresses that gap through a review of current literatures on upzoning as well as literatures on density and social interaction, and on neighboring. Following a presentation of each area of scholarship, a synthesis and discussion outlines a research plan for understanding increased density’s impacts on neighborhood life and the experience of place.

Author

• Krista E. Paulsen, Boise State University