DISTRICTING 53 



economic and political conditions. As long as these conditions vary, the 

 police power must continue to be elastic, i, e., capable of development." 

 If an informed and deliberate public opinion becomes educated to the neces- 

 sity for the exercise of greater control over the planning and over the 

 building of the city, and that such control cannot be effectively exercised 

 except through the police power, it is clear that the police power is suffi- 

 ciently elastic to meet the situation. The courts, while naturally conserva- 

 tive, have shown a strong disposition to favor all reasonable regulations for 

 the control of the height, size and arrangement of buildings. As the public 

 necessity for such regulations becomes more clearly apparent, we may expect 

 the position taken by the courts to become more and more clearly defined in 

 support of such control. 



Bearing in mind the purposes and objects which justify a resort to the 

 police power our study of the problem of controlling building development 

 will be based chiefly on the following considerations : 



(1) Public safety — Protection of property from fire and protec- 

 tion of the occupants of buildings from injury due to fire or panic. 



(2) Public health — Importance of light, air and the prevention 

 of congestion to health and sanitation. 



(3) General welfare — (a) The comfort and convenience of the 

 occupants of dwellings, offices and factories, through more adequate 

 provision for light and air and in the case of dwellings through the 

 maintenance of the essentially residential character of the neigh- 

 borhood. 



(b) The safeguarding of existing and future building investment 

 values and the encouragement of an appropriate and orderly building 

 development by such regulations as will prevent the taking from an 

 existing structure of its minimum allotment of light and air and as 

 will tend to maintain the character of a district. 



(c) The prevention of street congestion. 



Constitutionality of Districting 



While the desirability of districting is generally recognized by all 

 students of this subject there is a fear on the part of some that it may be 

 held void as an infringement of the constitutional guarantee of equality. 

 The constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws constitutes one 

 of the most important limitations upon the police power. It means that 

 the government shall not impose particular burdens upon individuals or 

 corporations to meet dangers for which they cannot in justice be held respon- 

 sible, and that all legislative discriminations or classifications shall be jus- 

 tified by differences of status, act or occupation corresponding to the differ- 

 ence of legislative measures. 1 The idea of equality excludes in principle 

 both particular burdens and special privileges, but admits of reasonable 

 classification. 2 



'Freund, Police Power, page V. 

 " Ibid., sec. 611. 



