Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of adopting a market‐based land use model, Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), which is very popular in America and other countries as a positive land use control mechanism for conservation, in an evolving socialist land economy, namely China.

This paper utilizes a case study approach, supplemented by a cost‐benefit model, to estimate the feasibility of establishing a TDR model in Chongqing, China.

From the analysis, it is found that a market‐based land use mechanism can serve to maximize the benefits of all parties and can balance the interests between development pressures and conservation needs. However, this is based on a number of conditions, including: that a well‐developed legal framework should be set up, to clearly delineate property rights; that a good and enforceable planning system should be in place; and that a mature land market mechanism should be developed that allows open market prices to be realized in the trading of development rights.

This case study is based on a hypothetical situation of one case. More data are needed to support the argument in the future.

Conservation is a major concern for the local governments in China, given the recent high speed economic growth. A model that can balance development pressure, while allowing the market to compensate fully for the infringement of property rights in the process of urban regeneration, is worthy of the authority's attention in future policy formulation.

This paper shows that the society as a whole can strike a balance between the need for economic development and conservation of historic sites, provided some conditions can be met.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study the establishment of a market‐based land use model in the conservation policy of land in China.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the demand and supply relationship between urban and non‐urban land, the latter's diminishing supply, arguments for and against its preservation, methods in which preservation might be achieved and one method in particular, with which the authors have considerable experience, that involves the purchase of development rights and density credits.

The research design involved meetings with farmers, city and county officials and members of several land conservation organizations, bringing together several hundred agricultural and residential real estate transactions, quantitative analysis of the transaction data using descriptive and hedonic methods, developing property attribute values and thereby determining the value of agricultural development rights and urban density credits.

Agricultural development rights were valued, on average, at $9,000 per acre. Commercial development rights were valued, on average, at $9.00 per square foot of floor area (FAR).

By acquiring agricultural development rights the process of agricultural land being converted to urban purposes can be slowed or halted. Valuing and selling development rights is a straightforward means of permitting urban density that is understood by developers and easily, objectively and transparently quantified. It is also a good method of raising funds for the acquisition of agricultural development rights.

The valuation process developed and employed does away with the need for individual appraisals of rights to be acquired and sold. Therefore this is a very efficient process. Also, it shows how farmers, preservationists and planners can be brought together to solve a common problem.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the regulatory, policy and market‐based approaches taken to incorporate biodiversity conservation in the management of urban growth in Sydney and more broadly in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state. Problems associated with managing Sydney's growth – particularly from the intersection of dealing with perceived property rights and the protection of natural resources such as biodiversity – are identified, and the scope for hybrid “smart regulation” is examined.

The relevant issues are illustrated through significant State Government development decisions relating to the retention of biodiversity in the new growth areas of Sydney.

The paper argues that to better integrate biodiversity conservation in Australian cities a mixed approach be adopted in which a number of tools are utilised – and that this needs to occur in the context of a sound overarching strategic planning framework. This constitutes a hybrid approach involving a “fixed” strategic spatial plan informing statutory‐based regulation primarily through zoning and other development controls, augmented by a range of market based tools implemented through statute and common law measures such as conservation covenants.

Singular reliance on traditional “command and control” regulatory approaches as both a cause and ineffectual solution to the problems faced in biodiversity conservation is highlighted. Newer “market based” mechanisms which are being introduced (e.g. biobanking), or should be adopted (e.g. transferable development rights), and management at the strategic level (e.g. biodiversity certification), are examined.

Argues that conserving biodiversity requires a combination of policy reform and appropriate economic instruments. Presents policy reforms which would remove the underlying causes of the loss of biodiversity and create incentives for the efficient use of biological resources. The economic instruments would further strengthen the incentives for behaviour which is supportive of the objectives of the convention on biological diversity and generate the additional financial resources required to fund investments in biodiversity.

This chapter analyzes the role of new local planning frameworks in the development of urban megaprojects (UMPs). It argues that the way projects are integrated with existing planning controls and statutory procedures influences how its costs and benefits are distributed. Drawing on the case studies of the Special Hudson Yards District in New York City, the “Zone d’Amenagement Concerte Clichy-Batignolles” in Paris and the Operacao Urbana Agua Branca in Sao Paulo, it compares how the legislative reforms and strategic plans enacted in each city impacted development programs, implementation process, and public benefits delivered by each project. This is a comparative case study analysis using quantitative and qualitative data collected through planning documents, press articles, interviews, and field research on the planning process of the three case studies, their administrative and institutional frameworks focused combined with quantitative analysis of the development proposals and outcomes of each project. The research shows how the articulation between the new plans and the underlying zoning districts as well as willingness by the city to commit public funds to finance the required upfront investments influence the ability of cities to extract public benefits from urban megaprojects and improve integration with surrounding neighborhoods, transport infrastructure, and regional policy. Based on a succinct review of the related literature the chapter illustrates the evolving role of public agencies and land-use regulation in the development of UMPs, illustrates the material expression of strategic planning on legislative reform and policy statements, provides a comparative analysis of contrasting legal systems, and suggests policy formulations that can improve the “public return” generated by UMPs.

There are some environmentally critical areas (ECAs) in cities such as flood flow areas, agricultural land, canals, rivers, water bodies, forests and hills that need to be conserved from land transformation. The purpose of this paper is to review the compliance, challenges and significance of urban planning, and to develop a contextual framework of urban planning for environmental area conservation to improve the urban environment in case study city Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

This research is based on a qualitative thematic analysis of the available relevant literature.

This research identified non-compliance of the contemporary urban plans such as indiscriminate land conversion activities in the ECAs. Conflicting interests between the urban plans concerning protection of the conservation areas and business interests of the community people and the real estate development companies are identified as the major challenges. Dhaka faces several environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity and ecosystem, waterlogging, flooding, pollution, reduction of vegetation, groundwater depletion, temperature increase and a reduction in agriculture and fishing because of land conversion in the ECAs.

Urban planning with effective conservation area management, conflict resolution through communication and participation, creation of economic opportunity to generate income from the ECAs and assessment of the conservation strategies and interventions might ensure environmental conservation in Dhaka.

The conceptual framework of urban planning for environmental conservation is innovative as this could be a basis for other cities in Bangladesh and in other developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Hong Kong's newly published nature conservation policy (NCP) which introduces two additional mechanisms to address sites deemed by Government of HKSAR to be of prime conservation importance. These sites have historically proven problematic, as they have fallen without the proper scope of pre‐existing measures to balance development, conservation and social pressures.

This paper reviews the background of such measures and how they inter‐relate. It then queries whether the additional mechanisms are an initial move by government to tackle the most difficult sites first, prior to rationalising and integrating legislation for sustainable development, or merely another ad hoc fix.

The new NCP decidedly represents a step in the right direction for Hong Kong's treatment of nature conservation.

The paper critically evaluates the ad hocism in the conservation policies in Hong Kong.

This paper aims to explore the case for the radical reform of land policy worldwide. It does so, however, in the context of present problems posed by the prevailing coronavirus pandemic. It is a strategic study, not a scientific analysis and is oriented towards the field of the built environment in general and the real estate industry in particular.

Although it draws on concepts of land management long extolled and covers concerns currently circulating about the prospects for urban planning and property development post-pandemic, the synthesis is original.

The concluding counsel is that land policy reform, being a component factor of so much of society's endeavours, should figure far more prominently across the political platforms of the world.

Most of the material regarding the “Great Land Question” is based on findings from countless strategic foresight studies conducted by the author over the past 25 years and re-assessed in light of the pandemic. If correct, the practical implications will be significant.

This is a review of existing models.