Planning-related land value changes for explaining instruments of compensation and value capture in Switzerland

As a public policy, planning seeks to achieve politically defined policy objectives such as sustainable spatial development. To effectively attain these objectives, it is essential to consider the impact of planning decisions on land values. A comprehensive understanding of the connection between planning and land values is imperative for making well-informed choices regarding the management of land use and spatial development sustainably and responsibly. While instruments of planning law are intensively debated within the planning community, their implicit effects on land values are rarely considered. This study contributes to the field by demonstrating the crucial connection between planning-induced land value changes and value capture instruments in Switzerland. Our analysis shows significant value changes in the planning process. It connects these to redistributive instruments of the Swiss planning regime, which come into play to compensate for disproportionate planning-induced advantages or disadvantages of landowners. Due to the exceptionally significant change in value while zoning, which is present in Switzerland, there are remarkable redistributive instruments - both in terms of value increase (added value capture) and value decrease (compensation). Our study shows that knowledge of planning-related land value changes can help understand redistributive mechanisms, thereby contributing to best-practice debates

Understanding Private Preferences in Urban Development—Analysing Spatial Patterns of Food Discount Stores Locations in Switzerland

This paper examines the spatial pattern of food discount stores in Switzerland, where private actors made location decisions without interference from planning regulations until 2016. Using aerial images and a classification scheme with functional and morphological attributes, the study shows that the majority of discount stores were built in peripheral commercial areas or greenfield sites as solitary buildings, indicating a preference for minimal land acquisition costs and car orientation. Some integrated central locations were also chosen. The average density measured by floor area ratio was low. The results suggest that without planning intervention, private actors’ decisions would lead to sprawled settlement patterns with high ecological and societal costs. Further research is needed to explore the potential role of planning in mitigating this effect

Ideological or pragmatic value-added capture? An inter-cantonal study on the influence of political legitimacy on the configuration of value-added capture in Switzerland

Als eines der wenigen Beispiele weltweit sieht das Schwei-zer Planungsrecht ein Instrument zum Ausgleich planungs-bedingter Bodenwertsteigerungen vor. Die Bestimmung aufder Bundesebene ist jedoch nicht direkt anwendbar, son-dern lediglich ein verbindlicher Rechtsetzungsauftrag an dieKantone. Jenseits der bundesrechtlichen Minimalvorgabenkommen den Kantonen dabei in den Gesetzgebungsverfah-ren weitreichende Gestaltungsspielräume zu. Der vorliegendeBeitrag nutzt diese Konstellation, um zu untersuchen, wiesich die politische Legitimation des Instruments auf die kon-krete rechtliche Ausgestaltung auswirkt. Basierend auf derplanungswissenschaftlichen Literatur ist zu erwarten, dasspragmatische Argumente zu gravierenden kantonalen Rege-lungen führen müssten, beispielsweise durch die expliziteBerücksichtigung von Um- und Aufzonung als weitere Ab-gabetatbestände neben dem bundesrechtlich gefordertenTatbestand der Einzonung. Ideologische Argumente dürftenhingegen zu lediglich minimalen Umsetzungen führen, bei-spielsweise zu einem Abgabesatz, der die bundesrechtlich minimal vorgeschriebenen 20 Prozent nicht überschreitet.Die vergleichende Untersuchung anhand der Kantone Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft und Bern zeigt jedoch eher auf einenumgekehrten Zusammenhang hin. Im Kontrast zu den inter-nationalen Erfahrungen führen in der Schweiz ideologischeArgumente zu einer entscheidenderen planungsrechtlichenAusgestaltung des Mehrwertausgleichs.As one of the few examples worldwide, Swiss law serves for an instrument to compensate for planning-related increases in land value. The provision at the federal level however is not directly applicable, but merely a binding legislative mandate to the cantons. Beyond the minimum requirements under federal law, the cantons are given far-reaching discretion in the legislative process. This paper exploits this constellation in order to examine how the political legitimacy of the instrument affects the concrete legal configuration. Based on the planning literature, two schools of thought hold precedence. First, that pragmatic arguments would lead to farreaching cantonal regulations, e.g., through the explicit consideration of rezoning and upzoning as further taxable events in addition to the federal law requirement of zoning. Second, that ideological arguments are likely to only lead to minimal implementations, e.g., to a levy rate that does not exceed the minimum 20 percent prescribed by federal law. However, this comparative study based on the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, and Bern instead points to a reverse correlation. In contrast to international experience, ideological arguments in Switzerland lead to amore far-reaching design of value added capture under planning law

Vier Thesen zur effektiven Umsetzung der Innenentwicklung in der Schweiz

Densification is considered a desirable planning solution to prevent urban sprawl and reduce land consumption. The implementation of this goal is acknowledged to come with a range of benefits such as biodiversity preservation, improved energy efficiency, and optimising infrastructure costs. While the need for densification is largely undisputed in the planning debate, the question remains, however, of how to achieve this policy objective. Planning practice is struggling with the implementation of densification objectives because the process implies that stakeholders must deal with the existing built environment, small-scale ownership structures, mosaic of ways, etc. In this paper, we discuss four theses that help explain these implementation difficulties. We take the Swiss spatial planning policy system as a case study example due to its traditionally high priority of densification implementation in Swiss cantons and municipalities. Our four theses suggest different intervention approaches at the federal, cantonal, and local levels to steer and implement densification goals effectively. As well as a clear definition of what ‘densification’ means (and what not), greater financial and personnel support is regarded as being key for municipal planning administrations to effectively resist increasingly professional and legally powerful landowners

Country Profile: Switzerland

Different countries have different planning systems, but there has hitherto been no general overview that facilitates comparison and dialogue in the sense of academic and planning discourse. The country profiles presented here provide a clearly arranged overview with information on the geography and socio-economic and political situation of each country as well as on the administrative structure and government system, as these aspects determine the planning system and the scope planners have to shape town and country planning within their remit. This collection of country profiles is underpinned by the handbooks of planning terms for various countries as well as the INTERREG projects COMMIN (2004–2008, currently online at WebArchive.org), BalticClimate (2009–2011) and the ESPON project COMPASS (2016–2018)

Vier Mal die Altstadt von Bern - Räumliche Abschätzung von Lebensmittel-Discounter-Filialen in der Schweiz

Etwa ein Jahrzehnt nach dem Eintritt von Aldi und Lidl in den Schweizer Markt beginnt die politische Auseinandersetzung über das Format der Discounter. Die Filialen werden dabei als eine der haushälterischsten Bodennutzungen überhaupt und als moderner Teil der service public gelobt und gleichzeitig als Landschaftsfresser bezeichnet und als Motiv der Zersiedelung herangezogen. Belastbare Zahlen über das räumliche Ausmaß der Discounter fehlen und können einen Beitrag zur Versachlichung liefern. Mithilfe einer Fernerkundungsanalyse werden die 275 Filialen quantifiziert und klassifiziert, um die Heterogenität der verschiedenen Filialtypen darzustellen. Im Ergebnis können beide formulierten politischen Positionen widerlegt werden. Als häufigster Typ sind Filialen in offener Bauweise in gewerblich-industriellen Räumen anzutreffen