Smart growth characteristics and the spatial pattern of multifamily housing in US metropolitan areas

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between smart growth policies and other social and physical characteristics and the supply of multifamily housing units in 202 core-based metropolitan statistical areas (CBSAs) in the USA. Data for this study were gathered from the GeoLytics Neighborhood Change Database for the 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010 US Census. The smart growth characteristics of each CBSA are determined by a smart growth index and a catalogue of urban containment rankings, while other social and physical characteristics are obtained from the US Census. This allows us to examine potential differences in development patterns between CBSAs with varying levels of sprawl and growth containment policies. Two regression models are used to determine statistically significant relationships between multifamily development patterns and growth management policies, as well as other social and physical characteristics. The results indicate that high levels of sprawl are associated with relatively fewer multifamily units, especially in suburban areas. In addition, several population demographics that may potentially benefit from multifamily units, such as senior citizens, the population in poverty and smaller households, are less likely to live in areas with higher rates of multifamily units. These findings indicate that planners and policymakers should consider the needs of more diverse communities when planning for housing, especially in suburban areas, where housing diversity is constricted.

本文考察了美国 202 个核心大都市统计区 (CBSA) 的精明增长政策与其他社会和物理特征以及多户住宅供应之间的关系。研究数据来自 1980、1990、2000 和 2010 年美国人口普查的 GeoLytics 街区变迁数据库。每个 CBSA 的精明增长特征都由一项精明增长指数和一项城市控制排名确定，而其他社会和物理特征从美国人口普查结果中获取。由此，我们考察了蔓延水平和扩张控制政策各不相同的不同 CBSA 在发展模式上的潜在差异。我们运用两个回归模型确定了多户开发模式与增长管控政策以及其他社会和物理特征之间的关系具统计学显著性。结果表明，高蔓延水平与相对较少的多户住宅关联，在郊区尤其如此。此外，老年人、贫困人口和小型家庭等可能受益于多户住宅的人群在多户住宅密集度高的区域居住可能性相对较小。这些发现表明，规划者和决策者在做住宅规划时，尤其是在为住房多样性受限的郊区做住宅规划时应考虑更多样化社群的需求。