zoning means here the regulation of the kinds of activities acceptable on particular lots (wiki : zoning, urban planning) : one can define several districts in his town, like a residential area with parks to the West, a commercial area to the North, and a third industrial one to the South for example.
this new feature is based on an idea and a code by James Lethem, who is working on a dissertation : 'To advance understanding and techniques in automated city generation within a digital medium', and that contacts me, showing a big interest about the script. I hope he will continue to contribute with programming and good ideas to develop Blended Cities. if you'd like to join in, we meet almost everyday on IRC #blendedcities.
image zoning is the first data source we implemented James and I :
this terrible image allows to define the different zones : blue defines for example the industrial area, a strong red saturation defines the commercial areas, green defines parks and houses. the border area at the center between red and green will blend houses and shops.
I integrated the James work to the next release (0.44) that should be published soon. meanwhile you can test the alpha build available on the James site :
James Lethem download mod page + survey
thread on blender artists