Minneapolis 2040
Core idea
Broad upzoning and equity lens
Why it matters
Catalyst for zoning reform movement
Description
Minneapolis 2040 is the city's comprehensive plan, adopted in 2018 by the City of Minneapolis, notable for eliminating single-family-only zoning citywide and permitting small multi-unit buildings on residential lots, alongside upzoning transit corridors and removing parking minimums. The plan is explicitly framed around racial equity, acknowledging the legacy of racial covenants and exclusionary zoning in shaping the city's housing geography. It couples land-use reform with goals on climate, affordable housing and access to employment.
Significance
Minneapolis 2040 became the emblematic catalyst of the American zoning-reform movement, the first major United States city to abolish single-family-only zoning citywide, and it directly influenced subsequent state and municipal reforms across North America. It is central to contemporary debates linking housing supply, racial equity and planning law, and its legal challenges on environmental grounds have themselves become part of the reform discussion.
What shaped it
- Zoning (1884 Germany / 1916 NYC)
- The Just City (Fainstein) (2010)
- Inclusionary zoning (from 1971)
- Environmental justice (1982 / 1991)
Plans it influenced
- Denver Blueprint Denver 2019 (2019)
Sources
- https://minneapolis2040.com/overview/
- https://www.brookings.edu/articles/minneapolis-2040-the-most-wonderful-plan-of-the-year/