Resource information
Around the world, in both developed and
developing countries, policy makers use a variety of tools
to manage and accommodate urban growth and redevelopment.
Government officials have three main concerns in terms of
land policy: (i) accommodating urban expansion, (ii)
providing infrastructure, and (iii) managing density.
Together, the planning for infrastructure and urban
expansion, land use, and density policies combine to shape
the spatial structure of cities. This paper reviews global
experience on using land based instruments to accommodate
urban development and financing infrastructure. The review
suggests that urban transformation is most efficient when
land markets are fluid, particularly when they are grounded
in strong institutions that (i) assign and protect property
rights, (ii) enable independent valuation and public
dissemination of land values across uses, and (iii) enable
the judicial system to handle disputes that may arise in the process.
