A legal question,
a legal case which, ultimately, doesn't exist, for it is allowed.
And if it exists, it is not applied.
Or if one tries to apply the law one simply doesn't have the means
to control its application.
It's not enough to just say, "This is the regulation, this is the law."
There must also be entire units of code enforcers whose job it is to ensure
that what is put in the law is truly applied on the ground.
The problem in most cities is that the legislative infrastructure exists,
but the means to control it do not, and as we know, without its control
people will continue to spread out as they wish,
with or without the law's approval.
Beyond the existing regulation there are urban plans
which are, in principle, extremely outdated.
These are rarely updated, and even when they are, they are rarely utilized.
We'll examine the limits of these plans,
and how to overcome these limits, in the videos which follow.
For now let's keep in mind that the plan is rarely as it should be,
is rarely as useful as it should be,
but it should, normally, be able to contain this urban sprawl,
because it should define the perimeter within which one can develop,
and the perimeter beyond which one cannot.