Charles Cain | 2026 I.S. Symposium

Name: Charles Cain
Title: Post-Industrial Zoning Law and its Effect on Prevalence of Third Places in Seattle
Major: Urban Studies
Minor: Computer Science; Mathematics
Advisor: Heather Fitz Gibbon

Zoning and land use laws have existed long before third places, and have historically restricted uses of land particularly in the post-industrial era in the United States. Although land use and zoning have been closely linked by research, informal social spaces have not been studied as a consequence of zoning. This study addresses the extent to which the advent of post-industrial zoning affects spatial and social characteristics required for the establishment of third places in Seattle. Using Henri Lefebvreʼs “Social Space” from The Production of Space and Jane Jacobsʼ section “The Conditions for City Diversity” from The Death and Life of Great American Cities, the study conducted a statistical analysis of spatial data, economic data, and physical characteristics and revealed connections between some aspects of zoning and the prevalence of third places in some parts of Seattle. The studyʼs statistical models performed unevenly, highlighting the complexity of predicting locations of an unplanned element of cities but also giving insight about using quantitative methods to understand third places in Seattle.

Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.