Swiss land improvement syndicates: 'Impure' Coasian solutions?

An increasing number of planners have explored the implication of Coase Theorem for planning theory and practice. As there are often a large and dispersed number of actors involved in planning issues, the application of ‘Pure’ Coasian solutions has proved to be limited. However, some studies argue that when the conditions for a ‘Pure’ Coasian solution do not exist, ‘Impure’ Coasian solutions may still be achievable. This paper examines how, when conditions of ‘Impure’ Coasian solutions are available, local authorities in Switzerland use Land Improvement Syndicates (LIS) as a policy instrument in order to achieve negotiated solutions in relation to development processes involving multiple landowners. With a syndicate in the commune of Cheseaux as an illustrative example, the paper analyses how this policy instrument has been utilised to reduce transaction costs, correct information asymmetries, and clarify property rights. The focus has been on an interpretation of the Coasian Theorem that identifies attempts to reduce transaction costs and clarify property rights as the main roles of governments or local authorities

Transaction costs in planning literature: a systematic review

“Transaction costs,” as a well-established theory in New Institutional Economics, has been used to explain and analyze various planning matters for about 30 years since its introduction to planning literature. However, there is no study on how planning-related studies have utilized the theory. This paper conducts a systematic review that aims to develop a better understanding of how transaction-cost theory is used in planning literature. The review shows that while potential contributions and implications of transaction costs have been conceptually discussed in planning literature, the empirical studies have remained limited, particularly concerning the magnitude of such costs in planning systems

Timing and distributional aspects of transaction costs in Transferable Development Rights programmes

Planners are required to evaluate planning policy instruments to develop a better understanding of how they can improve their policy design and implementation processes. Transferable Development Rights (TDR) programmes are one of the market-based policy instruments that have attracted considerable attention among planners and economists. Given that TDR programmes have been introduced as an alternative to traditional regulatory instruments in several jurisdictions on the basis that their implementation will result in better policy outcomes, evaluation of these alternative programmes is particularly important. Like all policy instruments, the activities concerned with the design and implementation of TDR programmes may involve significant transaction costs. These activities can be considered as a series of transactions from the perspective of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). While transaction costs are expected to vary across the lifecycle of a policy instrument, up to now there have been no systematic research studies concerned with why, and how, such transaction costs occur and are distributed among parties involved in different phases of TDR programmes. In order to aid better design and implementation of TDR programmes, this paper analyses the effects of transaction costs throughout the life of four TDR programmes (Calvert, Montgomery, St. Mary's, and Charles Counties) in the US state of Maryland in order to gain a better understanding of the timing and distribution of such costs incurred by different parties involved

Strategies of municipal land policies: housing development in Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands

How do municipalities strategically use land policy to develop land for housing? The development of housing is a challenge for many European countries, though the scale and time of it differs. Issues are not always about the absolute number of houses that need to be supplied in a country. The distribution and quality of houses affect the demand for housing. Land policy determines where and how future developments take place, and as a result, it has a considerable impact on both supply and demand of housing. Municipalities use different strategies of land policy to pursue housing goals. This paper aims to explore the rationalities underpinning such strategies of land policy. Therefore, a theory on pluralism – Cultural Theory – is employed to understand municipal strategies in different contexts, i.e. Germany (Ruhr region), Belgium (Flanders), and Netherlands. Applying Cultural Theory to land policy results in four ideal-typical strategies of active, passive, reactive, and protective land policies. Despite the fact that the decisions of municipalities are made within (or constrained by) their institutional environments (i.e. national/regional planning systems, development cultures, etc.), we found that there are key similarities between the strategies of the studied municipalities regardless of their different institutional environments

Morphology of Urban Villages in China: A Case Study of Dayuan Village in Guangzhou

Urban villages play an important role in providing affordable housing to urban migrants in Chinese cities. They are considered as supplementary to the dual rural-urban system in China. Of central importance to studying urban villages is how the morphology of these informal settlements affects urban life. It is essential for urban planners and designers to examine the morphology of urban villages. This paper, therefore, investigates the morphology of urban villages using the case study of Dayuan Village in Guangzhou, China. The morphology of this urban village is tested against four main elements of urban morphology: urban density, accessibility, functional mix, and urban interface. Our results revealed that the type of street within the urban village has considerable influence on accessibility, functional mix, and urban interface. Regarding urban density, our results show that buildings’ height is not influenced by the centrality of buildings nor land value; however, it is likely that it is affected by planning agreements between the village committee and the local government. Land coverage does not comply with the planning regulation for residential districts. Regarding accessibility analysis, the number of entrances to streets is influenced by the type of street under analysis. The distribution of different types of functional mix is also affected by the type of street within the urban village. The buildings with a mix of ‘live/visit’ are concentrated along the formal streets and primary inner streets. The mono-functional use of ‘live’ and the bi-functional mix of ‘live/work’ are mostly located in the secondary inner streets. Regarding urban interface, our results demonstrate that the formal streets have an interface with considerable porosity, and that this can contribute to the livelihood of the immediate area

Access to Small Airports and the Impact on Regional Growth in the UK

This paper focuses on how the accessibility of small airports affects the regional growth in the UK. Three airports that have less than two million passengers annually, are used for this study: Bournemouth, Cardiff International and London Southend Airport. The purpose of this study is threefold: 1) to investigate how the size of an airport influences growth and provides planning authorities support for permitting development around the airport, 2) to examine the impact that improving accessibility has on smaller airports, and 3) to analyse how regional development plans consider airports when airport developments occur. To this end, secondary data was used to analyse the current growth patterns linking economic indicators to airport use. Evaluating the accessibility of each small airport with the transport network by using a variety of databases and navigation software. Overall conclusions of this study show that the size of an airport is not as significant as the stability of the airports growth in influencing economic growth. Accessibility was found to improve regional growth around the airport and that the road network provided the best access due to the location of the case-study airports. Regional development plans considered airports as a gateway to drive economic growth with specific industries being supported. However, there is concern around airports for their development into greenbelts due to “exceptional circumstances” by the National Planning Policy Framework. Provision of independent development plans related solely to airports reduces the decision duration by local authorities