Keywords
federal legislation, land use planning, urban development, environment, federal housing funding, urban and suburban growth, sprawl, A-95 Review, Housing and Urban Development Act
Abstract
This article offers a survey of federal legislation and statements of policy that have shaped and directed land use and related phenomena, including the location of population, economic growth, and the character of urban development, and concludes by advocating the need for more comprehensive federal legislation on land use. Part I provides a historical development of land use policies and laws. Part II describes patterns of urban and suburban growth and their consequences, such as the decline of the viability of cities and the loss of agricultural land. Part III discusses the government's spending on infrastructure and the results of this spending as well as federal housing funding laws and their effects. Part IV discusses federal spending on urban programs, such as block grants and enterprise and empowerment zones. Part V analyzes federal laws dealing with agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. Part VI details modern federal legislation dealing with land use planning in various areas. This article strives to provide some reference to the various land use laws and policies and to prompt further study that could lead to an effort to adopt a comprehensive national plan for land use.
Recommended Citation
Shelby D. Green,
The Search for a National Land Use Policy: For the Cities' Sake,
26 Fordham Urb. L.J. 69
(1998).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol26/iss1/9