This paper examines the stringency of floor area ratio (FAR) regulation in Guangzhou using a market-based approach. Building on a theoretical framework that links land price with respect to FAR to regulatory stringency, we estimate how FAR constraints operate in practice when regulated development intensity falls below market-determined levels. Using a detailed land transaction dataset, we incorporate land conveyance fixed effects and explicitly account for urban subcenters to better capture intra-urban spatial structure. The results show that FAR stringency generally declines with distance from the city center, while district-level subcenters exert regulatory influences comparable to those of the central area. These patterns are consistent with a core–periphery spatial structure, suggesting that FAR regulation shapes urban development by moderating density in central areas while accommodating growth in subcenters. Overall, the findings illustrate how FAR stringency functions as an operational indicator of development control in a high-density metropolitan context.
Li et al. (Tue,) studied this question.