Florida's growth management law, "Smart Growth," was just repealed by the state legislature.

As part of a wide-ranging effort to stimulate economic growth and job creation, Florida’s state legislature has repealed its 30-year growth management law, known as “Smart Growth.”

Smart Growth had stipulated that local jurisdictions were to draft plans for how the community’s land would be used, and Florida’s now-defunct Department of Community Affairs would then approve the plans. Governor Scott had urged a repeal of the law, citing economic data that land planning slows economic growth.

Central to the governor and other’s criticisms is the price of homes, and how growth management policies, by regulating land use and restricting supply, constrain market resources and raise prices.

For instance, a Brookings Institution study found that such management policies, even if enacted for the common good, can have adverse effects on price.

“Even well-intentioned growth management programs … can accommodate too little growth and result in higher housing prices,” the report read. “This is arguably what happened in parts of California where growth boundaries were drawn so tightly without accommodating other housing needs.”

“The housing price effects of growth management policies depend heavily on how they are designed and implemented. If the policies tend to restrict land supplies, then housing price increases are expected,” the report concluded.

The effort in Florida is just the latest in revised policies on growth management. In 2003, then newly-elected Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty instituted a new board of directors of the Metropolitan Council in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, which in turn pursued more liberal policies on land use.

Also, in the United Kingdom, the Conservative-Liberal coalition government has proposed modest relaxation of its land use regulations, which it hopes will improve housing affordability in the nation.