I have recently updated two articles on land use and property rights issues on SSRN. The first article, “The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning” (coauthored with Josh Braver, forthcoming in the Texas Law Review), argues that exclusionary zoning is unconstitutional as it violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Exclusionary zoning has been identified as a major issue that leads to housing shortages and limits economic and social opportunities for many individuals.
The article suggests that Euclid v. Ambler Realty, the 1926 Supreme Court decision permitting exclusionary zoning, should be reversed or limited. It argues that exclusionary zoning infringes on property owners’ rights and should be considered a taking requiring compensation. The article also explores different strategies for challenging Euclid and advocates for a combination of constitutional litigation and political reform of zoning practices.
The second article, “Land-Use Regulation,” is a chapter in the upcoming Routledge Handbook on Classical Liberalism (edited by Richard Epstein, Liya Palagashvili, and Mario Rizzo). This chapter provides an overview of key land-use policy areas, including eminent domain, regulatory restrictions on land use, and property rights in relation to migration restrictions.
The chapter discusses the importance of limiting eminent domain to public projects and the negative impact of unconstrained use of eminent domain on property rights and economic development. It also delves into the ongoing debate on regulatory restrictions on land use and the impact of zoning rules on housing construction. Additionally, it explores the rationales for restricting mobility, particularly in the context of international migration.
In addition to my contributions to the Routledge Handbook of Libertarianism and the Cambridge Handbook of Classical Liberal Thought, I have also pondered the distinctions between libertarianism and classical liberalism in a previous post.
