Zoning Tools in Russia: Causes and Effects of Insufficient Legal Potential

Urban planning legislation contains legal mechanisms for the self-development of cities through changing the use of land and buildings by their owners. However, in law and in practice, a centralized administrative approach to urban development is maintained, which is characteristic of the period of the planned economy and is currently being maintained. Changes in federal legislation lead to a narrowing of the possibilities of self-development and to expanding the possibilities of making informal and non-transparent decisions within the framework of an administrative approach. The work was an analysis of federal legislation, zoning documents, local regulations governing the construction and reconstruction of real estate. A comprehensive review of documents using the example of the largest Russian cities provided an opportunity to identify the causes of the Insufficient Legal Potential of self-development and determine their effects.