Housing Supply and Natural Hazards within and across US Cities

This paper investigates the link between housing supply restrictions and increased exposure to natural hazard risks in the United States, considering a wide range of extreme climate threats. It shows that urban growth has heightened exposure to these risks, driven both by the growth of the riskiest cities and the growth in the riskiest areas within cities. Across cities, it finds no evidence that strict housing supply regulations are keeping people away from the riskiest cities. However, within cities, less elastic housing supply in safe areas leads to higher growth in at-risk areas.