We consider the problem of designing optimal distributed controllers whose impulse response has limited propagation speed. We introduce a state-space framework in which all spatially invariant systems with this property can be characterized. After establishing the closure of such systems under linear fractional transformations, we formulate the H-2 optimal control problem using the model-matching framework. We demonstrate that, even though the optimal control problem is non-convex with respect to some state-space design parameters, a variety of numerical optimization algorithms can be employed to relax the original problem, thereby rendering suboptimal controllers. In particular, for the case in which every subsystem has scalar input disturbance, scalar measurement, and scalar actuation signal, we investigate the application of the Steiglitz-McBride, Gauss-Newton, and Newton iterative schemes to the optimal distributed controller design problem. We apply this framework to examples previously considered in the literature to demonstrate that, by designing structured controllers with infinite impulse response, superior performance can be achieved compared to finite impulse response structured controllers of the same temporal degree. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.