Urban Land Use Reform

This report by RMI examines how reforming urban land use policies in the United States can mitigate climate change, increase housing supply, and reduce ecological harm by moving away from car-centric, single-family zoning.

• Discriminatory land use and housing policies in the United States have created segregated neighborhoods and cities designed for single-family homes and private cars, resulting in a chronic housing shortage and sprawling development that contributes to climate change.
• Transportation is the largest carbon-emitting sector in the United States. To reach global climate goals, transportation emissions must drop by 45 percent by 2030, which necessitates adding 70 million electric vehicles and reducing per capita vehicle miles traveled by 20 percent over seven years.
• An analysis of Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Denver, Colorado indicates that land use reforms—including upzoning, urban infill, and transit-oriented development—could reduce vehicle miles traveled by up to 13 percent, building energy use by up to 16 percent, and local greenhouse gas emissions by up to 14 percent compared to business-as-usual development.

APA

RMI (2023). Urban Land Use Reform. https://rmi.org/resources/urban-land-use-reform/

Chicago

RMI. Urban Land Use Reform. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/urban-land-use-reform/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Urban Land Use Reform |date=12 April 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/urban-land-use-reform/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023urban, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Urban Land Use Reform}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/urban-land-use-reform/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }