The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*

There is a growing debate about whether upzoning is an effective policy response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. This paper provides empirical evidence to further inform debate by examining the various impacts of recently implemented zoning reforms on housing construction in Auckland,...

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Main Authors: Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan, PHILLIPS, Peter C. B.
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2023
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2702
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3701/viewcontent/ImpactUpzoningHousing_Auckland_sv.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soe_research-37012023-12-12T08:41:49Z The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland* Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan PHILLIPS, Peter C. B. There is a growing debate about whether upzoning is an effective policy response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. This paper provides empirical evidence to further inform debate by examining the various impacts of recently implemented zoning reforms on housing construction in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area in New Zealand. In 2016, the city upzoned approximately three quarters of its residential land to facilitate construction of more intensive housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to analyze the short-run impacts of the reform on construction, allowing for potential shifts in construction from non-upzoned to upzoned areas (displacement effects) that would, if unaccounted for, lead to an overestimation of treatment effects. We find strong evidence that upzoning stimulated construction. Treatment effects remain statistically significant even under implausibly large displacement effects that would necessitate more than a four-fold increase in the trend rate of construction in control areas under the counterfactual of no-upzoning. Our findings support the argument that upzoning can stimulate housing supply and suggest that further work to identify factors that mediate the efficacy of upzoning in achieving wider objectives of the policy would assist policymakers in the design of zoning reforms in the future. 2023-07-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2702 info:doi/10.1016/j.jue.2023.103555 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3701/viewcontent/ImpactUpzoningHousing_Auckland_sv.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School Of Economics eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Upzoning Land use regulations Redevelopment Housing construction Housing affordability Spillovers Behavioral Economics Econometrics Real Estate
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Upzoning
Land use regulations
Redevelopment
Housing construction
Housing affordability
Spillovers
Behavioral Economics
Econometrics
Real Estate
spellingShingle Upzoning
Land use regulations
Redevelopment
Housing construction
Housing affordability
Spillovers
Behavioral Economics
Econometrics
Real Estate
Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan
PHILLIPS, Peter C. B.
The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
description There is a growing debate about whether upzoning is an effective policy response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. This paper provides empirical evidence to further inform debate by examining the various impacts of recently implemented zoning reforms on housing construction in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area in New Zealand. In 2016, the city upzoned approximately three quarters of its residential land to facilitate construction of more intensive housing. We use a quasi-experimental approach to analyze the short-run impacts of the reform on construction, allowing for potential shifts in construction from non-upzoned to upzoned areas (displacement effects) that would, if unaccounted for, lead to an overestimation of treatment effects. We find strong evidence that upzoning stimulated construction. Treatment effects remain statistically significant even under implausibly large displacement effects that would necessitate more than a four-fold increase in the trend rate of construction in control areas under the counterfactual of no-upzoning. Our findings support the argument that upzoning can stimulate housing supply and suggest that further work to identify factors that mediate the efficacy of upzoning in achieving wider objectives of the policy would assist policymakers in the design of zoning reforms in the future.
format text
author Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan
PHILLIPS, Peter C. B.
author_facet Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan
PHILLIPS, Peter C. B.
author_sort Greenaway-McGrevy, Ryan
title The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
title_short The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
title_full The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
title_fullStr The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
title_full_unstemmed The impact of upzoning on housing construction in Auckland*
title_sort impact of upzoning on housing construction in auckland*
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2023
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2702
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soe_research/article/3701/viewcontent/ImpactUpzoningHousing_Auckland_sv.pdf
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