Wendell Cox - Urban Planning

Urban Planning

Cox has also emerged as an opponent of smart growth, especially urban growth boundaries, impact fees, and large lot zoning, claiming they have a tendency to raise housing prices artificially and suppress economic growth.

He has authored studies for conservative think tanks such as the Cato Institute, Heartland Institute, Heritage Foundation, and the Reason Foundation, and for industry groups such as the American Highway Users Alliance, a lobbying and advocacy group for automobile-based industries.

He has also criticized land use policies in the Portland, Oregon area, noting that the area expanded its urban growth boundary to its intended 2040 area 38 years early due to political pressure and that housing prices have escalated substantially relative to incomes.

Demographia publishes the 'Demographia International Housing Affordability Ratings' and Rankings early each year. The survey routinely receives wide press coverage upon release, especially in Australia, where it is often used as a principal source of housing affordability ratings. The 7th edition added Hong Kong and received broad coverage in that jurisdiction, including a front page "spread," including charts in the South China Morning Post. The survey has also been criticised because it focuses on only price and income, without reference to financing, and for making a number of assumptions some critics claim to be unfounded. Demographia indicates that its measure, the Median Multiple (median house price divided by median household income) has been recommended by the United Nations and the World Bank. This indicates a continuing issue in housing affordability debates, whether to focus on more permanent structural factors (such as price and income) or whether to include more volatile factors, such as financing costs.

Demographia is also publisher of the world's most comprehensive listing of urban area (agglomeration) population and densities. The 6th edition published in 2010 includes all agglomerations with 500,000 or more population.