I can tell you that lack of regulation also causes problems. My kids school is only a half mile away through medium density housing, and they still can’t make it the whole way without walking in the road because the city won’t force people to make sidewalks.
Cut to a shot of the ancient city planner wondering why the city burned to the ground
I think the real trick is knowing which regulations are written in blood and/or misery, and which ones are based on bullshit (like parking minimums).
Parking was written in the pain of not finding a parking spot. While not blood, the pain was and is real. We should be against parking minimums anyway because - stores have incentive to find the right amount of parking for customers without overpaying, and parking at all is bad for transit/density and so we want to encourage less parking to encourage transit. Parking regulations thus have other unwanted effects as well.
And honestly ancient stuff plus fire safety is a pretty good approximation, so the meme holds up.
Outcome of too much zoning regulation is tent cities.
Outcome of zero zoning regulation is Kowloon Walled City.
I'll take Kowloon any day of the week.
Kowloon city was crazy dense because it was a tiny tract of disputed land in an otherwise regulated urban area. An ancient city is actually a much more typical example, and yeah, I choose that. I'll just get some noseplugs, avoid the most flammable areas, and wash my hands a lot.
And, funny enough, tent cities are super against zoning and other regulation. Homeless people are supposed to leave at all times, wherever they happen to be, while being complained about.
Sure, but that least that city was pretty before it burned as the planner didn't force every building to be white, yellow, or grey, with black shingles on the roof - they do require a "natural" brick facade half way up the front, but not the rest of the house. No other colors, no painting pictures on your walls. No energy efficient light color roofs.
I mean, have you seen a picture from a third world slum? No planning probably means more colours, but I'm not sure wires running all over the place is your cup of tea.
Also modern day Japan.
