The problem is that sometimes it is vital for cities to be able to control which (and how many) businesses open up in an area.<p>Just look at what has hit HN today - an article about Walmart closing down and leaving entire regions without a less-than-3-hours drive to the next grocery store.<p>It is vital for a city to be able to prevent big chains from entering a market, destroying the competition by price dumping (made possible by sheer scale) and then packing up - leaving a stripped down town in the process.<p>Oh the other side, it&#x27;s unfortunate that these laws and regulations more often than not get abused for clientel politics.