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Is that what city planners do in tourist cities? Maybe this is just an American thing, but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that -- they exis

Is that what city planners do in tourist cities? Maybe this is just an American thing, but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that -- they exist solely to help property developers and landowners generate as much wealth as possible, as quickly as possible, so that the city can capture as much of the tax-base growth as possible. Effectively zero thought is given to people, how they could live, work, transport themselves, utility infrastructure, schools, or anything of that nature. Affordability especially -- how real people are supposed to afford any of this -- is never ever planned for. Planners talk about this all the time, of course, and love the illusion that their work somehow solves these problems. But in truth, they don't. And usually, the results of their effort are slightly worse than prior. The only things planners routinely accomplish, are things that privatize urban core's wealth for the wealthy and/or increase taxable value of acreage -- things that make cities more expensive and less hospitable to human life. > If they plan correctly, there is a finite amount of hotels or holiday homes available in an area, and once those are full, the town or city can house no more tourists Is there any city that actually follows this? In the US, any idea of capping growth like this would get you labeled "anti-business", "NIMBY", and "economically illiterate". Capitalism demands infinite growth forever indefinitely (literally every facet of the whole world is just a commodity to be 'supply vs demand-ed', dontcha-know?), and any plan that limits that in any way would be immediately be rejected by every professional planner in the nation.

moksly 7y ago
> Is there any city that actually follows this? Yes? Many European cities are quite busy banning private rentals and requiring owners to actually live in their apartments. In my country it’s even illegal for foreigners to buy vacation homes. Legislation moves a lot slower than the market though.
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  Could you please name a few such cities/countries? Or, better yet, link to some sources? I'm very interested in planning best practices and not sure how to google this.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    Barcelona, Amsterdam.
    - desas 7y ago
      Berlin have limited it too, it's something like you can rent out spare rooms but not whole apartments, unless they're only rented out for no more than 90 days per year.
- maxsilver 7y ago
  > Many European cities are quite busy banning private rentals and requiring owners to actually live in their apartments. In my country it’s even illegal for foreigners to buy vacation homes. Those all seem like really great ideas. I wish we had anything as strong/effective as that in the US.
lazyasciiart 7y ago
This is not how planners work in most of the US. You sound like you are angry at a specific city.
zdragnar 7y ago
> but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that N=1 here, but that's nonsense where I live. Both the city and county have 10 year plans which describe how the area looks, feels, how people live, etc. Any significant changes (such as re-zoning residential to industrial, whatever) requires changes to both the city and county plans to be approved. These things simply do not happen willy-nilly or just because it brings in money. Keep in mind that this is not a particularly liberal / progressive area. Maybe there are some places like you describe, but in my experience that's been very much the exception, not the rule.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> Maybe this is just an American thing, but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that Yes, they do. It maybe often be true that parties with intense financial interest like developers pay the most attention to, and provide the most input and pressure on, things like city/county General Plans, but those plans almost always address all those areas you suggest are not considered.
wasdfff 7y ago
In every city in the US you cannot just build a hotel on a plot you owned. It must be zoned for a hotel, and that zoning level will tell you how tall you can go and how much parking you are required to provide. Growth is already capped in the U.S., your last paragraph doesnt make much sense. It’s also not government but the residents themselves who are to blame. Look at LA. Most of the city is low rise apartments or single family homes and there is a housing shortage pushing rents to astronomical levels. Developers want to make money by building supply to meet demand. They want to build towers. They want 2000 units in a parcel. They dont want to have to build 5 stories of subterranean parking. But the councilmans ear who can make these projects possible doesn't listen to the developers. A developer doesnt vote in the councilmans district. The NIMBYs who vote in council elections are the ones suing these projects for vaguely racist and myopic reasons, suing transit projects, suing infrastructure projects, burning precious public money in litigation hand over fist, and they get treated like princesses in council meetings because renters do not vote in LA, and who votes runs this city.

moksly 7y ago

> Is there any city that actually follows this? Yes? Many European cities are quite busy banning private rentals and requiring owners to actually live in their apartments. In my country it’s even illegal for foreigners to buy vacation homes. Legislation moves a lot slower than the market though.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
Could you please name a few such cities/countries? Or, better yet, link to some sources? I'm very interested in planning best practices and not sure how to google this.
- jacquesm 7y ago
  Barcelona, Amsterdam.
  - desas 7y ago
    Berlin have limited it too, it's something like you can rent out spare rooms but not whole apartments, unless they're only rented out for no more than 90 days per year.
maxsilver 7y ago
> Many European cities are quite busy banning private rentals and requiring owners to actually live in their apartments. In my country it’s even illegal for foreigners to buy vacation homes. Those all seem like really great ideas. I wish we had anything as strong/effective as that in the US.

lazyasciiart 7y ago

This is not how planners work in most of the US. You sound like you are angry at a specific city.

zdragnar 7y ago

> but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that N=1 here, but that's nonsense where I live. Both the city and county have 10 year plans which describe how the area looks, feels, how people live, etc. Any significant changes (such as re-zoning residential to industrial, whatever) requires changes to both the city and county plans to be approved. These things simply do not happen willy-nilly or just because it brings in money. Keep in mind that this is not a particularly liberal / progressive area. Maybe there are some places like you describe, but in my experience that's been very much the exception, not the rule.

dragonwriter 7y ago

> Maybe this is just an American thing, but city planners in the US generally do not do any of that Yes, they do. It maybe often be true that parties with intense financial interest like developers pay the most attention to, and provide the most input and pressure on, things like city/county General Plans, but those plans almost always address all those areas you suggest are not considered.

wasdfff 7y ago

In every city in the US you cannot just build a hotel on a plot you owned. It must be zoned for a hotel, and that zoning level will tell you how tall you can go and how much parking you are required to provide. Growth is already capped in the U.S., your last paragraph doesnt make much sense. It’s also not government but the residents themselves who are to blame. Look at LA. Most of the city is low rise apartments or single family homes and there is a housing shortage pushing rents to astronomical levels. Developers want to make money by building supply to meet demand. They want to build towers. They want 2000 units in a parcel. They dont want to have to build 5 stories of subterranean parking. But the councilmans ear who can make these projects possible doesn't listen to the developers. A developer doesnt vote in the councilmans district. The NIMBYs who vote in council elections are the ones suing these projects for vaguely racist and myopic reasons, suing transit projects, suing infrastructure projects, burning precious public money in litigation hand over fist, and they get treated like princesses in council meetings because renters do not vote in LA, and who votes runs this city.