Some people opine that local governments have the power to control the construction locations. However, others state that the building choice is on our own, and we should be free to build in the areas we like. For me, I think it will be better if we have some limitations, and I will explain why in the following paragraphs.
To start with, not every place is suitable for living. Hence, we have to set up some regulations for protecting people from danger. People may not be aware of that, because we are not academics in earth science. Therefore, we have no idea whether the zone is risky or not. In certain districts, they may encounter some natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and so on. If our authority has some laws on it, it may save lives.
If people want to live in the district they want without authorization, the downtown will be very crowded because they all want to live there. As a result, it is not allowed to let it happen, and we have to force people to live in particular places. The prices of houses are a good way to stop overpopulation, because if want to buy a piece of real estate, you need to spend a fortune on it. This is not cheap, and only the rich people can afford it.
In a nutshell, we can not construct in the area we want, because not every place is ideal for living. Furthermore, housing costs are very expensive, and not everyone can buy a house in urban areas. Thus, we have to impose some rules to fulfill it.