Experiments with Smart Zoning for Smart Cities

Abstract

A city that has adopted the technology that makes it a "smart city" can use "smart zoning" to achieve its land-use goals. We believe that to make smart cities work, we need them to be more "variably" dense than they are. However, regardless of the land-use goal, smart technology can support the use of smart zoning to achieve that goal. We define smart zoning as using technology to (1) specify outputs rather than inputs; (2) use formulas rather than specifications; and (c) request, gather, and analyze citizen input on goals and particular zoning decisions. Smart zoning has the potential to provide a more flexible model of zoning, responsive to public needs and demands, than traditional "Euclidean" methods of zoning. Cities need an experimental approach in urban planning whatever their goals, and especially if those goals are to allow, even encourage, many experiments that mix high and low density, residential, commercial, recreational, and even industrial uses. This includes more vestpocket parks and areas simply left "wild" for as long as possible. We identify some of the experiments throughout the world already taking place along these dimensions, with zoning laws and prizes encouraging experiments that mix public and private spaces, high and low density, and the "accidental mingling" that leads to smart collaboration, innovation, and improvements in quality of life. We examine in more detail a few experiments with smart zoning activities in several cities in the United States and Canada to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities of the smart zoning approach. We conclude with some suggestions for cities that want to try a smart zoning approach.