[Doctor_Fegg]

You don't need zoning laws for that. The UK doesn't have them, yet still has pretty stringent controls ("planning permission") on what you can build. Explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning#United_Kingdom

Each area - typically a district, which is a sub-unit of a county or city - has a "local plan" which is decided democratically by the local government. "The plan does not provide specific guidance on what type of buildings will be allowed in a given location, rather it provides general principles for development and goals for the management of urban change."

All of this sits under a National Planning Policy Framework set by central Government.

[dpratt]

“We don’t have speed limits, but instead a system where different classes of roads have a preset range of overall maximum velocity.”

Does a zoning law by any other name smell as sweet?

[avianlyric]

Not quite. UK planning isn’t highly prescriptive, and made up extremely narrow and limited classes of building (like single unit family home).

Instead the plans set out browser goals, such as designating a area as being primarily residential with an objective of reducing traffic and increasing walking.

If you can submit a plan that show what you want to build fits with outline, you can probably get permission. That means it’s perfectly possible to build a shop, or an office, or restaurant in the middle of a residential area. All of those things would increase the walk ability of the area, and reduce the need for residents to own cars.

Equally just because a plan doesn’t indicate you can build a specific type of building, doesn’t mean you can’t get permission for. But you would have an uphill battle to convince planners that deviating from the local plan is necessary.

The result is that pretty much all of the UK has mixed use development. You find residential area right next to light industrial districts. You find shops and restaurants scattered through neighbourhoods, and find flat in the centre of commercial districts (just don’t complain about the noise).

[Ichthypresbyter]

The difference between zoning and planning is like the difference between a speed limit and the old "Reasonable and Prudent" law in Montana or the Richtgeschwindigkeit in Germany.

[willyt]

The UK’s planning system is very slow, unpredictable and inefficient. It also is not great at preventing suburban sprawl either. Probably Spain, the Netherlands or Japan would be more interesting to look at.

[SilasX]

That’s zoning with a different name.