Building Representation: The Politics of Development, Diversity, and Institutional Norms

Jeremiah Cha

No a934k_v2, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Metropolitan areas in the United States are undergoing rapid diversification, significantly reshaping the demographics of local leadership. This paper examines how shifts in the racial and ethnic composition of city councils influence land use and housing development, particularly in relation to decision-making diversity. Using data on city council elections and the distribution of new housing permits, I identify the causal effect of electing a minority representative on housing supply. The findings reveal that minority representation increases single-family housing construction at the expense of multi-family housing, challenging conventional expectations about ideology and race. Qualitative interviews with city council members suggest that efforts to address minority underrepresentation drive active support for single-family housing, while distrust of developers—rooted in fears of gentrification—fuels skepticism toward multi-family projects. Overall, the study presents a nuanced view of racial representation: while minorities achieve better representational outcomes, these gains can come with costs.

Date: 2025-08-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://osf.io/download/68af652b25e2725061794904/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:a934k_v2

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/a934k_v2

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in SocArXiv from Center for Open Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by OSF ().