Regulation of Urban and Climate Futures

Whether we like it or not, regulation will be essential to achieve sustainable, inclusive, and healthy urban and regional futures. This chapter explores the interdisciplinary regulatory literature to understand what sorts of regulation are available to achieve these goals (from government mandates to self-regulation by firms), and what outcomes we may expect from different regulatory interventions. The chapter challenges populist antiregulation calls for less regulation and more reliance on the self-correcting capacity of the free market, but it also explains why many existing regulatory systems are not fit-for-purpose to accelerate the transition toward the urban and regional futures we desire. In short, the chapter argues that we do not need less or more regulation. Rather, we need different regulation.