Broken Zoning: Why We Can’t Fix the Housing Crisis Without a Map

In this episode of The Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt are joined by urban planner Alex Beheshti for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked barriers to solving Canada’s housing crisis: zoning data. Alex makes the case for a Canadian Zoning Atlas—an ambitious but essential tool to bring clarity, consistency, and transparency to the country’s fragmented planning systems. They explore why zoning laws are so confusing, how the lack of machine-readable data cripples good policy, and what Canada can learn from international best practices. If we can map census data, why not zoning? From obscure codes to wedding vows about development charges (really!) this is a conversation about why better data might just be the key to better housing.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction 

01:00 Canada needs a housing crisis map

01:29 Alex shares his wedding vows

02:48 Previous Alex B episode

02:53 Mike’s philosophy of experimentation and failure

04:05 Understanding zoning: definitions and complexities

07:01 The need for centralized zoning data

09:19 The massive gap in urban planning data

10:30 Envisioning a Canadian zoning atlas

12:16 Canada should emulate the US and Australia

13:49 Future planning tools for Canada

Research/links:

Canada’s Housing Crisis Needs a Map

Guest:  Alex Beheshti https://twitter.com/beheshtialex

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.