Socio-geographic mobility and widespread zoning reform in Auckland

Abstract

We consider the relationship between upzoning and socio-geographic mobility in Auckland after a groundbreaking widespread zoning reform in 2016. Longitudinal data on individual residence are used to track post-reform migration between neighbourhoods of differing socio-economic advantage. Upzoned areas experienced more in-migration from lower socio-economic neighbourhoods and less in-migration from higher socio-economic neighbourhoods. These descriptive patterns persist in estimated regressions that control for unobserved heterogeneity in origin and destination neighbourhoods and conventional predictors of within-city migration. Regression results also show that upzoning is associated with less out-migration once these potential confounders are controlled for. These findings are consistent with Auckland’s zoning reform enabling households to move into more advantaged areas, indicating that zoning can be redesigned to support upwards socio-geographic mobility.