Zoning in ArcGIS Urban consists of zoning types and zoning boundaries. A zoning type describes a certain combination of zoning code restrictions such as allowed building height, parcel coverage, or space uses. Zoning types don't have a geometry. You can assign zoning types to zoning boundaries to define the spatial extent of zoning code restrictions.
You can edit existing zoning types and boundaries copied from the urban model as well as propose new types and boundaries for a specific plan. Proposed zoning types are only available in the plan; they are not available across the entire city.
Add a zoning type
You can add zoning types to a plan by creating or importing new types or by copying existing types.
Create a zoning type
You can create a zoning type in zoning mode 
or in the plan configuration. Use the zoning mode option to add types one by one. Use the import options in the plan configuration to add multiple types from a hosted feature table, a spreadsheet, or a feature layer symbology.
Create a zoning type in zoning mode
To create a zoning type in zoning mode , complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- Expand the side panel on the right.
To show or hide the panel, click the Expand button
at the upper right of the view. - Click Zoning and overlay types
in the upper right corner of the side panel. The side panel shows two tabs. The Zoning types tab is open by default. It lists the zoning types for the plan.
- Click the Add button
in the upper right corner of the side panel.The New zoning type dialog box appears.
- Modify the styling of the new zoning type on the Appearance tab:
- Provide a label for the zoning type.
- Optionally, provide a name, custom ID, and a description for the zoning type. You can style the description with markdown syntax elements. See Description styling to learn more.
- Optionally, change the Color, Fill, and Outline default values.
- Modify the zoning code regulations on the Parameters tab.
- Click OK to save the new zoning type.
The new zoning type is saved and added to the zoning types list with a proposal flag next to its name.
Add zoning types to the plan configuration
To add zoning types to the plan configuration, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Expand the drop-down menu named after the plan and select Configure plan.
The plan configuration opens to the general plan settings tab by default.
- Click Zoning and click Zoning types.
- Click Add and choose from the following options:
- Single item—Add a single zoning type.
- From spreadsheet—Import multiple types from a spreadsheet.
- From feature table—Import multiple types from a hosted feature table.
- From feature layer symbology—Import multiple types from the symbology of a hosted feature layer.
See Manage zoning types to learn more about these options.
- Click Return to plan
in the header when you finish adding types.
Create a zoning type based on an existing type
You can create a zoning type based on an existing type in zoning mode or in the plan configuration. To create a zoning type based on an existing one from the list of types in zoning mode, complete the following steps:
Note:
See the Create a zoning type section above to learn how to access the list of types.
- Click the Configure button
of the existing zoning type you want to duplicate.The Zoning type dialog box appears, listing the parameters of the selected zoning type.
- Scroll to the bottom of the dialog box.
- Click the Create duplicate button
in the lower left corner. - Define the appearance and the parameters of the duplicate zoning type according to your requirements.
Note:
See the Create a zoning type section above to learn more about changing the zoning type appearance and parameters.
- Click OK.
The duplicate zoning type is added to the list of zoning types with a proposal flag next to its name.
Reorder zoning types
Reorder zoning types to change their position in the legend. To change the order of zoning types, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Expand the drop-down menu named after the plan and select Configure plan.
- Click Zoning and select Zoning types.
The list of zoning types appears.
- Drag and drop the zoning types to reorder them in the list.
Modify a zoning type
You can modify a zoning type in zoning mode or in the plan configuration. To modify a zoning type from the list of types in zoning mode, complete the following steps:
Note:
See the Create a zoning type section above to learn how to get to the list of types.
- Click the Configure button next to the zoning type you want to modify.
- Modify the appearance and the parameters.
Note:
See the Create a zoning type section above to learn more about changing the zoning type appearance and parameters.
- Click OK.
The changes are applied to the zoning type. If the zoning type is applied to a zoning boundary in the plan, the changes are also applied to the map view. The changes affect all scenarios in the current plan.
Note:
When modifying an existing zoning type, the changes are only applied to the current plan.
Add a zoning boundary
You can add a zoning boundary by drawing a polygon or by painting over parcels.
Note:
Zoning boundaries cannot overlap. If a newly added boundary overlaps an existing boundary, the existing one will be replaced with the new one for the area where they overlap.
Add a zoning boundary by drawing a polygon
To add a zoning boundary by drawing a polygon, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- Click the Add boundary button
on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view. - Ensure that the Draw new boundary by clicking on the map button
is selected. - Ensure that the Zone button is selected.
- Select a zoning type from the drop-down list.
Click inside the drop-down field and start typing to search for a zone type by label or description.
- Enable the Merge button
to merge overlapping and adjacent zones of the same zoning type:- Enabled—The new boundary will be merged with overlapping and adjacent boundaries of the same type.
- Disabled—The new boundary will not be merged with other boundaries. Overlapping parts will be replaced by the new boundary.
This setting is persisted while you edit the current plan.
- Click the map to draw the new zone boundary. Double-click when you are finished.
- Click OK.
Note:
- This tool supports snapping. To disable snapping temporarily, press the Ctrl key while drawing.
- This tool supports editing constraints. Press the Tab key while drawing to input exact dimensions.
Add a zoning boundary by painting over parcels
To add a zoning boundary by painting over parcels, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- Click the Add boundary button on the workflow toolbar at the right of the view.
- Click the Draw new boundary by painting over parcels button
. - Ensure that the Zone button is selected.
- Select a zoning type in the drop-down list.
Click inside the drop-down field and start typing to search for a zone type by label or description.
- Enable the Merge button to merge overlapping and adjacent zones of the same zoning type:
- Enabled—The new boundary will be merged with overlapping and adjacent boundaries of the same type.
- Disabled—The new boundary will not be merged with other boundaries. Overlapping parts will be replaced by the new boundary.
This setting is persisted while you edit the current plan.
- Paint over the parcels to which you want to apply the selected zoning type.
To paint over multiple separated parcels, press Shift while painting.
- Click OK.
Modify a zoning boundary type
To modify the zoning type of a zoning boundary, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- On the map, click the zoning boundary you want to edit.
A pop-up with details of the selected zoning boundary appears. If there are overlapping boundaries, use the arrow buttons
to rotate through the features. - Click Modify in the pop-up.
The Modify zoning dialog box appears.
- Select a zoning type from the drop-down list.
Click inside the drop-down field and start typing to search for a zone type by label or description.
- Check the check box at the bottom of the Modify zoning dialog box to merge the selected boundary with adjacent boundaries of the same zoning type.
This setting is persisted while you edit the current plan.
- Click OK.
Split a zoning boundary
To split a zoning boundary, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- On the map, click the zoning boundary you want to split.
A pop-up with details of the selected zoning boundary appears. If there are overlapping boundaries, use the arrow buttons
to rotate through the features. - Click Modify in the pop-up.
The Modify zoning dialog box appears.
- Click the Split button
.The Modify zoning dialog box closes.
- Click the map to draw a split polyline. Double-click to finish it.
- Click OK.
The selected zoning boundary is split along the polyline.
Note:
- This tool supports snapping. To disable snapping temporarily, press the Ctrl key while drawing.
- This tool supports editing constraints. Press the Tab key while drawing to input exact dimensions.
Delete a zoning boundary
To delete a zoning boundary, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- On the map, click the zoning boundary you want to delete.
A pop-up with details of the selected zoning boundary appears. If there are overlapping boundaries, use the arrow buttons
to rotate through the features. - Click Modify in the pop-up.
The Modify zoning dialog box appears.
- Click the Delete button
to delete the zoning boundary.
Copy a zoning boundary to a scenario
To copy a zoning boundary to another scenario, complete the following steps:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- On the map, click the zoning boundary you want to copy to another scenario.
A pop-up with details of the selected zoning boundary appears. If there are overlapping boundaries, use the arrow buttons
to rotate through the features. - Click the Copy to scenario button
in the pop-up.The Copy to scenario dialog box appears.
- Select the target scenario from the drop-down list.
- Choose the method to handle overlaps in the target scenario:
- Preserve—All zoning boundaries in the target scenario are preserved. The copied zoning boundary will be clipped if necessary.
- Replace—The copied zoning boundary is preserved. The zoning boundaries in the target scenario are clipped if necessary.
- Click OK to copy the zoning boundary.
The zoning boundary is copied. The target scenario opens.
Note:
- You cannot copy to the existing scenario.
- If the source or target zoning boundary needs to be clipped into multiple parts, a multipart feature is created. Use the split tool to split multipart boundaries after copying. See Split a zoning boundary to learn more.
Validate zoning using land use
You can validate zoning plan scenarios using future land use, existing land use, or any scenario of a land-use plan. Complete the following steps to validate the zoning plan scenario:
- Open the plan editor.
- Click the Zoning button at the upper right of the header.
- Click the Menu button
in the upper left corner of the screen. - Click the More button (Configure warning labels) next to the Warning labels entry.
- Choose the land use to validate the zoning plan scenario:
- Validate using future or existing land use that was imported through the data manager—Click the button named after the urban model and select the corresponding option to use for validation from the Planning horizon drop-down menu.
- Validate using a land-use plan scenario—Click the Land use plan button and select a land-use plan scenario that intersects the zoning plan study area.
- Click OK.
- From the menu, turn on the Warning labels toggle button, if necessary.
If a zone is not compliant with the land use that was selected for validation, a warning label appears in the view. Open the pop-up of the zoning boundary to learn more about why it is not compliant with the underlying land use.