- Land Use Policy for Sustainable Cities   click here to open paper content86 kb
by    Malcata Rebelo, Emília | emalcata@fe.up.pt   click here to send an email to the auther(s) of this paper
Short Outline
This paper proves how a better knowledge of land rents and of the processes underlying surplus-values generation supports the definition of planning strategies aimed at sustainability.
Abstract
The research reported in this communication is aimed at answering the question of how land use planning, zoning, building and service standards can be revised and reformed to enhance urban sustainability in all its dimensions.
Considering the behaviour of the agents involved in property markets (including the increasing development of speculative processes), the uncertainty concerning future development processes, and the different variables that intervene in land and real estate price formation, planning decisions are more and more important in the definition of urban policies that ensure urban sustainability. Within this scope, in this communication are presented some reflections on how a better knowledge of land rents and of the processes underlying surplus-values generation supports the definition of planning strategies and the implementation of policies aimed at sustainability. Then a methodology is presented and a model is developed that allows the identification and quantification of land surplus values, applied to the office market in Oporto city (Portugal). This model that may be generalised to other urban realities is supposed to become a useful tool to support planning decisions, in order to warrant the provision of land at acceptable prices for the different kinds of uses, to encourage the free initiative and investments of promoters, builders and sellers, and to control surplus values engendered by planning decisions.
The paper ends up with some reflections concerning the ways how a convenient land use policy should be delineated and implemented, so that land fulfils its social function, land price levels are monitored and controlled, and territorial development is enhanced, in an increasingly sustainable urban environment.
Keywords
Urban planning; land rent; surplus-values, urban management
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