Urban Village Zoning in San José, CA: Exploring Zoning Locations and Neighborhood Change
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Date
2025-02-24
Authors
DeHaan, Jason
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Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
This dissertation explores questions pertaining to the role of zoning in structuring urban inequalities. I attempt to answer two primary research questions. First, what factors best explain how zoning changes are located in urban areas? Second, what effect do zoning changes have on the racial and economic composition of neighborhoods? I investigate these questions by conducting empirical investigations of San José, CA. In 2011, San José adopted a new zoning strategy, urban villages, intended to address many of the problems associated with the city’s largely suburban form. This new strategy reflects an important change and provides the opportunity to examine how changes associated with it unfold over time.To answer my research questions, I use two different approaches. First, I examine the factors associated with the siting of urban village zoning in San José by evaluating factors associated with different theories in urban sociology. Those include homevoter, growth machine, and sociospatial theories. Second, I examine the impacts of urban village zoning application in San José, examining how zoning is associated with changes in both Latinx composition and per capita household income of neighborhoods. In addition, I also examine those relationships in the context of the three theoretical perspectives. I conduct my analyses using binary logistic and spatial regression models that incorporate measures to account for spatial influence.
The analyses produce mixed results. For the analysis of the factors associated with the siting of urban village zoning, I find that growth machine theory, which emphasizes proximity to urban amenities, best predicts the locations of urban village zones. Concerning the relationship between urban village zones and changes in both the Latinx composition and per capita household income of neighborhoods, I find no significant relationship. However, I do find that the theoretical models are useful for explaining those changes. The analyses provide mixed support for the theoretical models, but the strongest support is for sociospatial theory, which emphasizes the way that historical urban inequalities are embedded in space and serve to further concentrate disadvantage in those areas.
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Keywords
Urban planning, Zoning