Market Urbanism

Liberalizing cities | From the bottom up

“Market Urbanism” refers to the synthesis of classical liberal economics and ethics (market), with an appreciation of the urban way of life and its benefits to society (urbanism). We advocate for the emergence of bottom up solutions to urban issues, as opposed to ones imposed from the top down.

The need for low-quality housing

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The market urbanism axiom -- permitting housing supply to increase is key to achieving affordable housing -- has been made recently by Rick Jacobus at Shelterforce and Daniel Hertz at City Observatory. However both argue that even with an increasing supply, low-income people will need aid in order … [Read more...]

Rent Control: A No-Win

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In an otherwise excellent article on NIMBYism and luxury housing, affordable housing consultant Rick Jacobus writes: “economist Anthony Downs reviewed the published studies and found that while 'stringent' rent control imposed over a very long time had reduced private apartment construction in the … [Read more...]

Liberate the Garage!: Autonomous Cars and the American Dream

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When it comes to the impact autonomous cars will have on cities, there’s plenty of room for disagreement. Will they increase or decrease urban densities? Will they help with congestion or make it worse? At the same time, there seems to be widespread agreement on at least two things: First, far fewer … [Read more...]

Who Plans?: Jane Jacobs’ Hayekian critique of urban planning

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Cities are fantastically dynamic places, and this is strikingly true of their successful parts, which offer a fertile ground for the plans of thousands of people. - Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities For most of the field’s history, prominent urban planning theorists have … [Read more...]

A response to Interfluidity

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On Interfluidity, Steve Randy Waldman posted some criticisms of the market urbanist position. The post was interesting, though I took issue with a few specific points. The following are my responses. Regulatory Authority as a Property Right The customary property rights surrounding homeownership … [Read more...]

Shell Games in NIMBYism

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Yesterday the Cato Institute hosted an event featuring William Fischel's discussion of his new book Zoning Rules! with commentary by Mark Calabria, Matt Yglesias, and Robert Dietz. Fischel explained his theory that zoning was an effective tool for minimizing nuisances between land uses through the … [Read more...]

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