Urban Planning

The term urban planning refers to the attempt to control the character and location of housing, industry, and recreational developments according to a preconceived pattern or design. Such designs are thought necessary in the context of urban development because of the externalities or third-party effects associated with the close contiguity of urban life. In densely populated areas, for example, the location of major industrial developments close to the places in which people live may result in objectionable pollution. Urban planning is considered necessary to ensure the appropriate separation of different land uses in order to improve the quality of urban life.

Traditionally arguments of this nature are invoked in the context of theories of market failure, which suggest that without governmental oversight unregulated market processes will ...