Selective rescaling,inequality and popular growth coalitions: The case of the Israeli national plan for earthquake preparedness

What happens when a government decides to up-zone an entire country and give apartment owners nationwide incentives to upgrade their homes? Can such a plan benefit everyone? What happens when it does not? We discuss these questions by analyzing TAMA 38, a nationwide statutory plan approved in Israel in 2005. With this plan, the central government encourages apartment owners of older buildings (built before 1980) to make them earthquake-ready by giving them options to add floors and space, and to cooperate with developers who will renovate the properties. The plan is a strictly entrepreneurial undertaking that depends entirely on land values and private market actors. At the same time, to expedite the implementation of the policy, the central government performed a bold scalar jump, bypassing both local and district planning levels and allowing owners to acquire building permits regardless of local plans, conditions, and regulations. We discuss this plan in light of the literature on rescaling in planning. Scholars show that following decades of growing neoliberal decentralization, various central governments are now advocating a variety of centralized-decentralized policies that bypass local decision-making and/or strategically blur national, district, and local planning scales. As in the case of TAMA 38, such methods perpetuate the neoliberal dependence on market agents, and prioritize specific actors, places and projects. By analyzing the implementation of this policy, we show how such methods create uneven development and power conflicts between actors from different planning tiers. Ultimately, we demonstrate that regardless of nationwide goals of earthquake preparedness, planners focus on central locations and affluent actors, while meaningful questions about equality and scale are sidestepped and ultimately forgotten.     

Supply side constraints in the Israeli housing market—The impact of state owned land

House prices in Israel have risen since 2008 by as much as 98%. Much of this increase is attributed to low levels of housing supply and housing supply elasticities. In Israel land is frequently owned by the state. This results in heavy government involvement in the housing market through the control of land supply via land tenders. This paper estimates the impact of state owned land on the Israeli housing market focusing on these unusual conditions of land supply. A model for the creation of new housing units is proposed. This incorporates land tenders, enabling the estimation of housing supply dynamics with an accurate measure of public land supply. The model is tested using regional panel data which facilitates the dynamic estimation of national and local supply elasticities and regional spillovers. The paper uses novel data sources resulting in a panel of 45 spatial units over a span of 11 years (2002–2012). Due to the nonstationary nature of the data, spatial panel cointegration methods are used. The empirical results yield estimates of housing supply price elasticities and elasticities with respect to land supply. Results show that housing supply is positively impacted by governmental decisions but the impact is low. Supply elasticity with regard to government land tenders stands at around 0.05 over the short run and 0.08 over the long run. Government policy of offering land in low demand areas and fixing minimum-price tendering does not seem to affect housing supply. Policy implications point to the need for more sensitive management of the delicate balance between public and private source of land in order to mitigate the excesses of demand shocks.     

Moving out or living on a mound? Jointly planning a Dutch flood adaptation project

All over the world spatial flood risk management policies are on the rise. This paper analyses the planning process for the Overdiepse polder, a so-called “Room for the River” project in the Netherlands. After high water in the 1990s, the Dutch government changed its flood risk management policy. While before 2000 it leaned heavily on dikes to separate water from land, after that year spatial measures to “let the water flow” were introduced. This required the integration of two formerly separated policy domains: flood risk management and land use planning. In the densely populated and economically highly developed Netherlands, returning space to the river unavoidably impacts on the lives and livelihoods of those who live and work along the rivers. Therefore, such spatial measures to decrease flood risk have to be negotiated with various stakeholders. The planning process towards making the Overdiepse polder suitable for temporary water storage deserves more in-depth analysis. We describe and analyze the development of relationships between key actors in the planning process, with a focus on planning practices rather than on assumptions about the existence of certain types and qualities of relationships. We conclude, among others, that citizen involvement can, under specific socio-political and institutional conditions, build trust among stakeholders and increase local legitimacy for interventions by government agencies. However, it should not be idealized as “self-governance” or assumed to be part of a unidirectional change in water interventions towards new relationships between actors.     

中国建设用地配置中政府失灵的理论解析及其改良框架设计

研究目的:剖析中国建设用地配置中不同政府失灵的成因、影响与相互关系,探索相适宜的综合性改良框架及实现路径,为国家建设用地配置优化改革提供参考。研究方法:文献研究、逻辑分析与框架设计。研究结果:中国当前的建设用地配置存在两种政府失灵,并且这两种政府失灵涉及不同类别的政策问题,因而单一的技术性对策无法达到理想的解决效果,故需要依据不同的问题特征,设计构建综合性的政府失灵改良框架进行指导作用。研究结论:中国建设用地配置同时存在政府失灵Ⅰ与政府失灵Ⅱ。前者发生于政府内部,以央地关系失衡下建设用地计划管理机制失效为特征;后者发生于政府外部,以政府过度干预市场机制、扭曲土地资源配置为特征。对应于这两种政府失灵,本文设计涵盖6类调控工具的综合性改良框架。其中,针对政府失灵Ⅰ,主要有观念性调控、规划性调控和经济性调控3类,其可行路径包括转变形成目标相容的管控理念、构建国土空间规划体系、引入指标交易与管理平台等;针对政府失灵Ⅱ,主要有规则性调控、探索性调控和产权性调控3类,其可行路径包括健全土地市场运行规则、探索创新存量土地开发模式、构建现代土地产权体系等。     

Property taxation and rural land values: Their effect on private forestland ownership structure in Texas

The objective of this study was to estimate the effect of property tax and rural land market value on the ownership structure of private forestland in Texas. Using county-level panel data in an Instrumental Variable regression framework, we estimated the effect of property tax rate and rural land value on two measures of ownership fragmentation: the total number of private forest landowners and the average size of private forest holdings. The results indicate that after controlling for the total amount of private forest area in a county, both property tax rates and rural land values increased ownership fragmentation. However, the rate of ownership fragmentation was relatively inelastic in both property tax rate and rural land value. While further restructuring local property tax rates might minimize the negative effect on private ownership dynamics, policy instruments that decrease the disparity between productivity value and market value of rural forestland might be needed to check the ongoing ownership fragmentation in Texas and elsewhere in the United States.     

荷兰农地非农化中政府的强势角色及启示

研究目的：分析市场经济体制下荷兰政府在农地非农化过程中积极参与市场运作和强势控制市场的原因,及其对转型期的中国农地非农化改革的借鉴意义。研究方法：流程分析法和归纳法。研究结果：通过流程分析归纳总结了荷兰农地非农化过程中政府、农民、私人投资者等利益相关者的行为选择。研究结论：荷兰在土地产权设置、土地规划体系、土地市场运行和政府参与市场的作用等方面值得中国借鉴。     

英国的土地市场管理及其对我国的借鉴意义

英国是西方有代表性的市场经济发达国家之一。本篇文章主要介绍了英国政府,包括中央和地方政府对土地市场干预管理的政策、手段、方式和效果等,在此基础上提出了对我国土地市场管理的借鉴意义。     

Land acquisition compensation in post-reform China: Evolution,structure and challenges in Hangzhou

This paper focuses on evolving land acquisition compensation policy and practice in Hangzhou, a better-developed coastal city in the Yangtze River Delta Region, by assessing the evolution of land acquisition compensation and the interplay among the main actors, especially the local government and affected individual villagers and rural collectives. It evaluates the hybrid compensation governance that includes monetary compensation, employment alternatives, share-holding co-operative, social security assurance, and rural collective retained land. The study reveals that while land acquisition compensation has been gradually improved in many aspects, land-lost villagers are still subject to various uncertainties in sustaining their lives, competing in the labor market, and adapting to urban life. Furthermore, markedly improved land acquisition compensation in Hangzhou has created newly emerging socio-economic problems amongst dislocated rural villagers. The paper reveals how different compensation measures have redefined rural collectives and land-lost rural villagers in the urbanization process.     

Who you know and when you plough? Social capital and agricultural mechanization under the new green revolution in Ghana

This paper examines the role of social capital in smallholder agriculture mechanization in Ghana under the ongoing agenda for transformation of African agriculture through the new green revolution. It contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of social capital in explaining socioeconomic activity over time and space. Drawing on the experiences of smallholder farmers (n = 30) from Navrongo using qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the paper explores how social capital networks shape mechanized service access and utilization among farmers and highlights the historical background to tractor-based mechanized farming in northern Ghana. Findings reveal how local farmers activate and operate in trustworthy social networks at the community level among themselves and externally with government agencies, traders and development partners to facilitate tractor access. The paper also finds that the withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural services during structural adjustment in the 1980s created an avenue for private sector entry into the tractor service market. In recent times, the market is a blend of both public and private actors. Given the crucial role of social capital, this paper stresses that apart from economic factors, contemporary agricultural policy should build upon contextual sociocultural networks and the resources inherent in them.     

从三层博弈关系看土地征收制度改革——基于某大学城征地案例的分析

本文以某大学城征地过程为个案，从地方政府和被征地农民、地方政府之间以及地方政府和上级政府间的三层博弈关系出发，探讨博弈过程中农民、地方政府、上级政府间的利益关系及由此产生的行为选择以及几者能否取得多赢的可能性，运用完全信息静态博弈，完全信息动态博弈，不完全信息静态博弈等模型分析我国土地征收的博弈模式，指出了从纳什均衡角度来优化现行征地制度的改革方向。     

How involved are they really? A comparative network analysis of the institutional drivers of local actor inclusion

Different socio-economic and environmental drivers lead local communities in mountain regions to adapt land use practices and engage in protection policies. The political system also has to develop new approaches to adapt to those drivers. Local actors are the target group of those policy approaches, and the question arises of if and how much those actors are consulted or even integrated into the design of local land use and protection policies. This article addresses this question by comparing seven different case studies in Swiss mountain regions. Through a formal social network analysis, the inclusion of local actors in collaborative policy networks is investigated and compared to the involvement of other stakeholders representing the next higher sub-national or national decisional levels. Results show that there is a significant difference (1) in how local actors are embedded compared to other stakeholders; and (2) between top-down versus bottom-up designed policy processes.     

地方政府土地财政依赖一定会推高城市一级土地市场化水平吗? ——基于2003—2015年中国省级面板数据的检验

研究目的：在深入分析地方政府土地财政依赖对城市一级土地市场作用机理的基础上,利用2003—2015年中国31个省（市、区）（不包括港澳台地区）的面板数据进行计量检验,测定地方政府土地财政依赖度对城市一级土地市场化率的影响程度。研究方法：计量经济分析方法。研究结果：为弥补地方政府土地财政缺口的刚性需求,地方政府领导人会权变地选择一级土地市场上各类用地的出让方式和出让量。土地财政依赖度与城市一级土地市场化率之间存在倒U型关系。研究结论：当土地财政依赖度与一级土地市场化率均较低时,地方政府会在一级土地市场上出让土地时适当增加“招拍挂”的比例,从而在提高土地财政依赖度的同时提升一级土地市场化率;当土地财政依赖度较高但一级土地市场化率较低时,地方政府会增加一级土地市场上“招拍挂”的比例,在降低土地财政依赖程度的同时提升一级土地市场化率。     

Large-scale agricultural investments under poor land governance in Zambia

This paper looks at how large-scale land acquisitions made by foreign investors in Zambia are implemented. It scrutinizes both the steps that an investor has to go through in order to attain land within the Zambian land governance system as well as the actors shaping the acquisition process.As the most important formal change introduced to the Zambian land governance system, the Lands Act 1995 paved the way for foreign investments in land. The new actor “investor” on the other hand has emerged as a result of rising prices for food and non-food commodities. The study finds that the enforcement of formal rules in the process of acquiring land is currently weak and largely determined by a number of actors: while investors, local authorities and government officials have strong leverage, local land users are excluded from the process. If the process of transformations of customary land into state land continues, land administration will be inevitably shifted toward statutory jurisdiction. As a result, local chiefs will lose their discretionary power thereby further marginalizing local land users. As it stands, welfare implications are chiefly down to the individual actors. However, it is only the government that can issue a guarantee that local land users will also benefit from land acquisition.     

Principles of partnership schemes: Theory and practice

Summary

The paper assesses the dominant influences in partnership schemes for town centre redevelopment. The analysis of policy development in the public and private sectors is drawn together into an interorganizational framework, stressing joint approaches to action. Much development activity requires co‐operation by the public and private sectors, and the principal areas examined are the procedures adopted to implement partnerships, the linkages used and the actors involved at each stage. Original research was undertaken, notably case studies of Newcastle, Droitwich and Solihull. These investigations illustrate the diversity of working relationships, wherein individual responsibilities are directed towards collective action, and proper communication between development partners is essential. Although partnership operation is partly dependent on a reticulist who can co‐ordinate and initiate action, the most important aspects are the established procedures, which offer little opportunity for innovation, and the attitude of individual actors, which tends to reinforce current thinking rather than challenge it. Among those influences with an external origin, finance and politics have the greatest impact. Nevertheless, decision taking still operates in an ad hoc way, responding only as issues arise and thus contributing to the incremental development of policy and the maintenance of the status quo within the land market.     

完善土地收购储备制度的建议和思考

研究目的:探索如何完善土地收购储备制度。研究方法:政策分析法和规范分析法。研究结果:土地收购储备制度已在全国范围内基本建立并在调控土地市场中发挥了重要作用,但也存在许多问题和不足,需要进一步规范和完善。研究结论:将土地收购储备机构改造为中央控股的股份公司,有助于增强中央对土地的宏观控制力,调节中央地方土地收益,拓展外资民资投资新领域。     

土地财政区域差异研究综述

[目的]进一步揭示土地财政已存在的区域差异规律,为构建更为科学、切实可行的政策建议,推动"征地→批租"地方政府土地财政模式转型提供新的研究视角。[方法]文献资料方法和比较研究方法。[结果]现有研究证实了土地财政规模及依赖程度、财政收入激励下地方政府土地出让方式、土地财政推动经济增长、土地财政影响居民收入消费及公共品供给、土地财政与城市用地规模联动关系等方面,在全国范围内都存在东部、中部、西部的区域差异。国外保有环节的房地产税是地方政府持续的财政资金来源;同时,是促进房地产市场有序发展、抑制城市蔓延的有效政策工具。[结论]未来研究方向是以地市为单元,探明各类土地财政构成要素对于经济增长、居民收入与消费及产业服务化、城市公共品供给、城市各类用地规模增长的影响内在机理;构建区域差别化的保有环节房地产税征收管理政策方案。     

Failure by design – National mandates and agent control of local land use in China

This paper aims to fill the void in the literature by answering the following research question: to what extent has the Chinese central government institutionalized public participation for addressing the challenge of agent control of local land use in China? Focusing on the stated purposes, specified actors, and installed mechanisms of public participation and government accountability, an institutional analysis was conducted on the national land use regulations and policies enacted between 1947 and 2012. It was found, without institutionalized input and surveillance from bottom-up by individual citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs), the top-down approaches remained ineffective and land use was mainly left for manipulation by local governments. The rural-urban dichotomy and lack of institutionalized public participation in land use decision-making have compromised equal economic and social opportunity for farmers, eroded public trust in local governments, and led to social unrest. Thus, the central government needs not only to directly control the discharge of discretionary power by local governments, but also to empower the public for holding the government accountable for land use decisions.     

城乡建设用地增减挂钩运行中出现的主要问题与建议

城乡建设用地增减挂钩政策出台后,地方开展了增减挂钩试点,对统筹城乡发展发挥了积极作用,但也出现了一些亟须规范的问题。该文试图在了解城乡建设用地增减挂钩政策运行情况的基础上,分析了政策试点中存在的主要问题,并提出了明晰土地产权,指标置换要做到"双挂钩",采取多种整理模式等政策建议。     

日韩国土规划新进展及对我国国土规划的启示

无论是日本的第六次国土规划修订,还是韩国的第四次国土规划修订,都有依法编制和实施动态性的国土规划、促进均衡国土和开放国土的建立、注重增强地方自主发展能力建设、强调规划编制过程中的公众参与等方面的特点。我国的国土规划应借鉴日、韩两国的作法,加强前期研究,推动国土规划立法;建立协调统一的国土规划体系,协调相关规划关系;开展以构建国土空间格局为主体的国土规划研究和编制工作,促进可持续发展;加强规划实施中经济手段的运用,协调政府与市场、中央与地方的关系。     

城乡一体化的土地市场运行特征及利益保障制度

研究目的:探讨城乡土地市场一体化后的运行机制和利益保障制度。研究方法:综合运用文献研究法、定性分析法、比较分析法等方法。研究结果:构建了城乡一体化的土地市场运行结构,分析了城乡土地市场一体化的运行机制特征和利益保障制度。研究结论:城市一体化的土地市场是城市土地市场和农村土地市场有机融合的市场;城乡土地市场一体化要求集体土地与国有土地产权平等、农村土地市场与城市土地市场直接对接、集体土地征收和流转中集体及农民获得足额的市场价格补偿、集体所有土地的流转的收益主要归各级集体经济组织和农民、农地发展权得到充分补偿、重新定位政府在土地市场中的角色、重新定位城市土地储备制度;为确保城乡一体化土地市场的运行,要建立合理的中央和地方土地财政收入分配机制、确保地方政府获取并维持稳定长期的土地税收收入、建立健全税收体制以调控土地利益分配、建立适应市场机制的以非市场化政策手段调控土地用途导向和公共产品供给的政策、保障农民利益不受侵犯。