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.Chapters00:00 Introduction 01:00 Canada needs a housing crisis map01:29 Alex shares his wedding vows02:48 Previous Alex B episode02:53 Mike’s philosophy of experimentation and failure04:05 Understanding zoning: definitions and complexities07:01 The need for centralized zoning data09:19 The massive gap in urban planning data10:30 Envisioning a Canadian zoning atlas12:16 Canada should emulate the US and Australia13:49 Future planning tools for CanadaResearch/links:Canada’s Housing Crisis Needs a MapGuest:  Alex Beheshti https://twitter.com/beheshtialexHosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina MaddeauxProduced by Meredith MartinFunded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/