Urban Law Bulletin
The Urban Law Bulletin: April 2018
Updated: Aug 4, 2020
The Urban Law Bulletin is a bi-weekly e-newsletter highlighting significant news and legal developments in the field of urban law.
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Housing and Development #housing
California Housing Revolution?
A pro-market proposal from a California lawmaker offers a solution for solving the state’s chronic housing shortage and high prices. SB 827, being introduced by State Senator Scott Wiener, would override many local zoning restrictions for buildings in the immediate vicinity of most rail and mass transit hubs, thereby forcing localities to allow more apartments and condominiums to be built a short walk from train stations and bus stops. Read about it here.
Law and Justice #justice
A City’s voice in the gun regulation debate, who has the power?
Just days after the school shooting in Parkland Florida, hear what the Federal 2nd Circuit court of appeals held regarding a city’s ability to regulate firearms and their transportation. Read the decision here.
City-State Relations and Preemption #preemption
Reclaiming Fiduciary Law for the City - Stanford Law Review
Cites routinely make financial deals that are as complex and expensive as anything in the private sector. However, because of their public status, cities face none of the scrutiny faced by corporations when working on transactions of the same scale. These authors make the case for applying a standard of fiduciary duty to city governments, and argue that it would have a negligible effect on policy making discretion and transaction costs. Read this article here.
Privacy In Public Space: Consequences of “Living Laboratories”
Smart tech has gone quotidian: teaching public and private actors everything from our patterns of movement to the specifics of who we spend time with, it even provides a medium for encouraging behavior through a controlled change of street lighting or emission of a calming scent. We engage with smart tech daily, without even knowing it. In learning our habits, and combatting the urban trifecta of traffic, crime, and pollution, how does data-driven management challenge privacy laws? Does it at all? Learn more here.
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We thank the Urban Law Center's Urban Law Student Fellows and Undergraduate Interns for assisting in preparation of The Bulletin, which provides news in all major areas of urban law, and categorizes the stories as follows:
City Administration and Urban Governance #administration
City-State Relations and Preemption #preemption
Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion #equality
Environment and Sustainability #sustainability
Housing and Development #housing
International/Global Urban Law #international
Law and Justice #justice
Public Health #health
Technology #technology
Transportation and Infrastructure #transportation
Urban Mobility #mobility
Urban Planning and Space #planning
If you have an article, legal decision, or opinion that you would like to share in an upcoming Bulletin, please e-mail it to theurbanlawbulletin@gmail.com.
Subscribe to The Urban Law Bulletin here.
The Urban Law Center at Fordham University School of Law
Nestor M. Davidson
Faculty Director, Urban Law Center
Geeta Tewari
Associate Director, Urban Law Center
Urban Law Student Fellow Contributors
Daniel Katter
Daniel Lavian
Victoria Lee
Michel Pickett
Steven Stern
Shirley Ureña
Urban Undergraduate Student Intern Contributors
Natalie Rodriguez
Matene Toure