A systematic framework of location value taxes reveals dismal policy design in most European countries

Location values have long been recognized as an attractive instrument to raise municipal revenues. First, they increase fiscal efficiency and equability compared to traditional property taxes. Second, they can be used to enhance sustainable urban planning. The question of how to design a location value tax has long been discussed in various strands of literature, but there are few efforts to create multidisciplinary approaches. This lack of reconciliation hampers the discussion on optimal designs that includes all economic, social and environmental considerations. Here we combine literature on public finances, urban economics and value capture with that of sustainable urban planning to narrow this gap. We develop a framework to assess the design characteristics of location value taxes from a sustainability perspective, and apply this framework to assess current practices in Europe. The analysis reveals severe shortcoming in policy design in most European countries, although Denmark provides a more promising example. Nonetheless, location value taxes have a high potential for improving sustainable urban planning.     

次优状态下大小兴安岭生态功能区政策工具选择依据研究

大小兴安岭生态功能区成立和发展过程中,选取有效的政策工具,实现生态保护和经济发展并行是一个具有重要理论和现实意义的研究课题。通过比较静态分析方法对适合生态区使用的生态税、天然林产品税以及天然林砍伐配额等政策工具进行成本分析和比较,在成本收益最大化理论的前提下,结合次优状态下两个社会福利影响分析,指出不同情况下如何选择成本最小,收益最大的政策工具,为生态区政策工具选择提供参考。     

The making of urban financialization? An exploration of brazilian urban partnership operations with building certificates

This paper provides two contributions to the research on urban planning and the financialization of land use. Instead of stressing the consequences of finance on others, it prioritizes the analysis of the social-technical constitution of finance itself within urban planning, and does so in an emerging country setting, which is still relatively understudied in the existing literature. We analyse a specific Brazilian planning instrument, i.e., the sale of securitized building certificates (CEPACs) in large urban (re)development projects (UDPs), as a potential constituent space of urban financialization. The paper explores how planners, financial consultants, contractors and builders/developers effectively shape the contradictory financial and physical design and implementation of UDPs with CEPACs. Although the initial evidence shows that there are still clear limits to the penetration of financial logics into land use planning, continuing regulatory rollout and the increasing activism of foreign investors suggest the instrument’s open-ended trajectory, with a potentially more significant role for financial actors in constituting urban financialization through CEPACs.     

物业税与土地出让金不可替代性

物业税是不动产税的一种类型 ,土地出让金是土地的价款 ,二者属于性质不同的经济范畴 ,不能也不应相互替代。文章针对用物业税替代地价的主张 ,分别从土地资源配置市场化之要求、与新发展观之矛盾、廉政建设、现实可行性等方面 ,分析了以税代价的不可行性和危害性。并指出解决地价过高及其引发的房地产开发成本过高和房价过高的根本出路在于加快城市建设方面税费改革的步伐     

长株潭两型社会建设中统筹城乡发展问题探讨

文章对长株潭两型社会建设中统筹城乡发展问题进行了积极、深入的探讨。分析了统筹城乡发展与试验区两型社会建设的关系,通过相关协调发展指标量化评价了长株潭统筹城乡发展的现状,指出了城乡统筹发展的难点和瓶颈,由此提出长株潭两型社会建设中统筹城乡发展的对策建议,为推进长株潭试验区改革建设提供有力的决策参考。     

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。     

Land betterment capture revisited: A methodology for territorial plans

The main goal of this article consists in the proposal of a developer obligations’ instrument aimed at capturing land betterments that result from planning decisions and from the implementation of territorial plans, reassigning them to public infrastructure, equipment and social purposes. It consists in charging for extra development rights beyond average municipal urban built-up areas. It is founded on a research and consultancy work for the Portuguese Territory Department (a governmental organism) within the scope of the revision of the Land Planning Act and complementary legislation, namely the new Juridical Regime of Urbanization and Edification, and the new Juridical Regime of Territorial Management Instruments. Thus herein are presented the assumptions, methodology, outcomes and conclusions of this work.It is applied − as a case study − to the Detail Plan of Avenue Pope John XXIII, in Fátima (in the Municipality of Ourém, Portugal), but its application is generalizable to other municipalities, and it potentially strengthens their financial status.Considering the current widespread crisis, and taking advantage from the experience of homologous value capture instruments in other countries, the proposed instrument is intended to contribute to strengthen municipal finance. It faces more clearly and objectively the funding of territorial planning and urban development. It further aims at developing understandable, quantifiable and user-friendly decision-support instruments, and at reassigning the betterments engendered by public planning decisions on behalf of communities.This concept and methodology supports the consolidation of the objectives of the new Portuguese Land and Planning Act. It indeed fosters the integration of territorial policies, strengthens effectiveness in plan execution, supports the economic and financial sustainability of urban development operations, and promotes equity as well as social and territorial cohesion.     

A review of spatial planning in Ghana's socio-economic development trajectory: A sustainable development perspective

This study provides a review of spatial planning in the context of Ghana's socio-economic development trajectory. Spatial planning has been integral to the economic policies of the country since colonial rule. Yet, its role has been overshadowed by the domain of socio-economic planning. Drawing from published literature, policy documents, legislative frameworks and interviews, this study reveals the different context and scope within which spatial planning has been implemented in Ghana, and the successes and failures thereof. While the colonial governments employed spatial planning on limited scale and for exploitative purposes, post-colonial governments have implemented broad-based planning grounded in the ‘genuine’ aspiration to promote a spatially balanced development. This study argues that post-independence planning has not been successfully implemented compared to pre-independence planning due to a myriad of factors including rapid urban growth, inadequate staffing, low capacity, lack of institutional coordination, political interference in planning, complex land tenure and evolving land markets among others. Consequently, urban centres in Ghana are beset with problems such as poor environmental conditions, poor infrastructure and service delivery, and uncontrolled growth; and these are inimical to sustainable urban development. The study lauds renewed efforts to transform planning in the spirit of sustainable development through the national urban policy framework and a proposed land use and spatial planning bill; the latter proposes planning based on spatial development framework, and a repeal of an obsolete 1945 planning ordinance that has underlain planning since. It is argued that if supported and harmonised the two initiatives present the best planning framework in the 21st century Ghana.     

农村新型社区建设的可行性评价方法和规划体系

建设农村新型社区,是新形势下打破城乡二元结构、改善农村环境、提高农地使用效率和农民收入的重要途径,它不仅仅是改变农民的居住方式,更是农民生活方式和就业形式的重大变革。这种深层次的变革需要一定的土地自然条件和社会经济条件的支撑。农村新型社区建设是一项系统工程,这项工作的开展需要可行性论证分析以及各级规划的约束。在分析建设流程的基础上,构建多指标分析模型,讨论农村新型社区建设可行性分析方法,分析指标包括土地自然条件、农地经营制度改革、农民搬迁意愿、新型社区建设模式等内容,指标权重用Delphi和AHP相结合的方法确定,指出BOM模式是一种较好的农村社区建设组织模式。提出农村新型社区规划体系包括传统文化和历史建筑保护规划、空间布局规划、详细规划和农村旧址复垦规划等多个层面的规划,并讨论各个规划阶段的主要内容。     

Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis on land use: The case of Romania

The aim of the present study is to test empirically the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for 42 Romanian counties over the 2000-2014 period. Specifically, we investigate the existence of an inverted U-shaped curve relationship between residential built-up land and economic development in a low-income EU country undergoing rapid and profound transition. We do so by making innovative use of spatial panel econometric techniques. Contrary to our expectations, the results indicate an inverted EKC, implying that higher levels of residential built-up area occur for higher levels of wealth. Moreover, we find that the built-up land in Romania mainly reflects processes of urban expansion, such as sprawl or suburbanization, that may have harmful environmental and social consequences. Spatial spill-overs in terms of built-up land arise and spread, albeit to a limited extent, to neighbouring locations. These findings are of potential significance for policy makers, because they highlight the need for coordination among neighbours. Furthermore, strengthening the institutional framework and local tax management, and planning urban regeneration better could curb and even reverse the extensive built-up land expansion and real estate speculation.     

Nitrate pollution control under soil heterogeneity

This article presents results on measures to abate nitrogen pollution when soil heterogeneity is considered by using a dynamic model of corn production. Several policy options for the control of nitrate pollution are evaluated by their cost efficiency. While results show that a nitrogen standard or tax is a good second-best control instrument, neglecting dynamics may lead to the wrong choice of instrument. Other important findings for the design of nonpoint pollution policy measures are that water pricing, as advocated by the Water Framework Directive, is inefficient as a pollution abatement tool, and differentiating control measures by soil type enhances welfare, although welfare gains may be small.     

土地有偿使用改革与中国的城市发展--来自香港特别行政区公共土地批租制度的启示

研究目的:分析土地有偿使用改革对中国城市发展的意义及发展过程中出现的问题,与香港特别行政区的公共土地批租制度进行比较,探讨完善中国大陆土地有偿使用制度的方法与途经.研究方法:实证与比较研究.研究结果:借鉴香港特别行政区公共土地批租制度的经验教训,中国大陆应加快对土地权益的研究及相关法律规章的修订,逐步建立起房地产年税体系,同时强化政府对土地市场的宏观调控能力及对土地市场需求的适应性.研究结论:土地有偿使用改革对中国大陆城市发展的影响深远、意义重大,但和成熟的香港特别行政区公共土地批租制度相比,无论在经济上还是法律方面均存在诸多缺憾.     

Socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation: A comparison between different land use planning schemes and policy implications

Forest loss and fragmentation, which generate various negative environmental and ecological consequences, have become widespread phenomena across the globe. Motivation to investigate the underlying drivers is essential for land use planning and policy decision making. This paper characterizes forest loss and fragmentation from 1979 to 2014 in the Ningbo region (China) using multitemporal satellite imageries and a set of landscape metrics (area-weighted mean patch area, edge density, area-weighted shape index, Euclidean nearest neighbor distance, effective mesh size and total area); and then quantifies the responsible socioeconomic drivers (economy, social activities, science and technology, culture and policy, demography) under different land use planning schemes (urban and non-urban) using multivariate linear regression. Results show that the two zones present identical trend of intensifying forest loss and fragmentation but differ in changing magnitude and speed. More specifically, forest loss and fragmentation in the non-urban planning zone occurs at a significantly higher pace and magnitude. For the urban planning zone, population pressure, economic growth and fruit consumption are the primary drivers of forest loss, while forest fragmentation is mainly driven by economic openness, cash crop consumption and environmental protection consciousness. For the non-urban planning zone, income increases, fruit consumption and infrastructure development are the primary drivers of forest loss, while infrastructure and tourism development are the major drivers of forest fragmentation. Besides, forest loss and fragmentation in the two zones are both heavily subjected to land use policy. The variance partitioning analysis highlights that the policy driver is the most influential one and economic driver also has strong effect on forest loss and fragmentation in the urban planning zone. For the non-urban planning zone, the influence of policy driver is the strongest and social activity is also very powerful. These results provide compelling evidence that land use planning fails to play an efficient role in protecting forest resources in the Ningbo region. The failure should be attributed to several issues associated with land use planning and forestry governance that widely exist in China. We finally propose some pertinent implications and suggestions for China’s land use planning and forest policy. This study is believed to advance the understanding of the socioeconomic drivers of forest loss and fragmentation. It therefore provides some new insights in land use policy.     

Implementing a land value tax: Considerations on moving from theory to practice

A land value tax is a recurrent tax on landowners based on the value of unimproved land. There is a widely held view that a land value tax is an economically efficient means of taxing wealth and of encouraging land development. The arguments presented in the policy and academic literature tend to concentrate on the compelling theoretical case, but most do not consider the detail of how such a tax might be implemented. Indeed, land value taxation is not widely implemented as a standalone real estate tax despite the strong theoretical rationale for its use. We explore why this might be by identifying key practical, political and economic factors surrounding the implementation and operation of land value taxation in six countries. We examine the various rationales for the introduction of land value tax, reasons for its continued use or abolition (where applicable) as well the particular practical and political issues which policymakers need to consider prior to introducing land value taxation. These include the need for a comprehensive up-to-date land registry and forward planning of land use at plot level; the provision of a well-resourced and informed valuation profession; resources to undertake robust valuations which separate the value of land from the value of improvements for developed plots and do so on the basis of highest and best use; and the need for widespread political support for the introduction of a new tax (which may be difficult to secure). These issues present significant uncertainty in comparison with already-existing forms of land and property taxation. We conclude that these issues may therefore provide some explanation as to the lack of widespread adoption of land value tax despite the economic theoretical arguments in its favour.     

Promoting planning for housing development: What can Sweden learn from Germany?

In the years 2006–2014, urban planning reform was seen as the major remedy against housing shortage in Sweden. The present government has the continuation of such reform on its agenda, but as of yet has made no proposals; instead, other housing policy measures have been introduced.In light of the uncertainty as to the future course of urban planning reform, possible future steps can be discussed. This article accordingly investigates whether German urban planning law and implementation could provide interesting reference points for discussion of further urban planning reform in Sweden, and if so, what parts of the German experience should be the center of attention.The article covers three aspects of German planning that influence the uncertainty, duration, and cost of residential planning as well as social goals addressed through planning: planning law, focusing on facilitated planning procedures of German planning law, measures taken in the organization of planning authorities to make development planning more efficient, and planning-related city demands for affordable housing.The conclusions encompass proposals for the further reform of the Swedish planning process in the form of a facilitated and accelerated development planning procedure for housing projects, as well as the introduction of private initiative in development planning. Further improvements to the organization and incentives of planning authorities are proposed. More research is required into municipal demands for affordable housing in the form of inclusionary zoning; such research should draw on the extensive international experience of such zoning, relating it to a Swedish pilot project.     

Planning the horticultural sector: Managing greenhouse sprawl in the Netherlands

Greenhouses are a typical example of peri-urban land-use, a phenomenon that many planning systems find difficult to address as it mixes agricultural identity with urban appearance. Despite its urban appearance, greenhouse development often manages to evade urban containment policies. But a ban on greenhouse development might well result in under-utilisation of the economic value of the sector and its potential for sustainability. Specific knowledge of the urban and rural character of greenhouses is essential for the implementation of planning strategies. This paper analyses Dutch planning policies for greenhouses. It concludes with a discussion of how insights from greenhouse planning can be applied in other contexts involving peri-urban areas.     

Land economic rent computation for urban planning and fiscal purposes

This article proposes an innovative methodology to compute economic rents of land designed to current or potential offices uses. It consists in the establishment of a cause-and-effect relation between offices’ price levels and correspondent levels of land rent, considering the main factors that influence property prices, the ones that guide public and private activities’ location decisions and the inter-dependencies between land and real estate property markets. The rationale subjacent to this research is that land economic rent is determined by the difference between offices market price and a set of costs correspondent to land acquisition, planning and building processes, and a profit margin. An assessment of surplus values is provided in order to compute it as the difference between total land market value (land economic rent plus economic return on land use) and correspondent tributary patrimonial-value according to legal valuation proceedings (settled on property law). In order to reach these goals, variables that exert influence on urban planning and municipal management were identified, an urban management information system was designed and implemented, and an integrated and interactive model to support decisions in urban planning – concerning real estate offices and land prices and characteristics – was developed. These tools were applied as a case study to Oporto city (Portugal). They embody updating functionalities, setting up as an on-going support to policies of municipal land use management (particularly applied to offices uses). A proposal is made to integrate similar models in territorial plans as valuation tools to support better approaches to assess the impact of planning decisions on real estate and land values, thus informing a more equitable, efficient and local-based tax basis. Implications of this analysis for urban planning and fiscal settings are proposed.     

Managing cities and resolving conflicts: Local people’s attitudes towards urban planning in Kumasi,Ghana

This study explores local people’s attitudes towards urban planning, and the effects of development benefits on local support for planning in Kumasi, Ghana. Kumasi is a rapidly urbanising city in Ghana where urban growth between 2000 and 2010 exceeded 5%, and where local support for urban planning has not been studied adequately. Based on Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Town and Country Planning Department and Ghana Statistical Service’s residential area classifications, household survey with 360 respondents were conducted in nine high, middle and low class neighbourhoods in Kumasi, in addition to interviews with six representatives from two planning agencies. Results indicated that two-thirds of the household respondents were positive towards urban planning and support urban planning. The household respondents were aware that more development benefits are possible from an inclusive and pro-poor urban planning. There appears to be correlation between development benefits obtained by local people from urban planning, and support for urban planning, indicating that development benefits impact people’s attitudes towards urban planning. Some of the main problems are social and spatial inequity among people living in different classes of residential neighbourhoods, and lack of locals’ inclusion in urban planning and management. There is a need to clearly address these issues, so that urban planning may get the support of local people which may lead to sustainable urban development.     

商业性矿产资源勘查项目中营业税筹划

地勘单位商业性矿产资源勘查项目越来越多,其间的涉税问题也随之增多。减轻税负,提高效益,进行税收筹划是一个有效的途径。根据国家的税收规定,结合实例,商业性矿产资源勘查项目税收筹划,主要是工程施工分包的税收筹划,资源技术开发(服务)的税收筹划。地勘单位在税收筹划时,应当先树立诚信纳税意识,在税法规定的范围内,依法进行税收筹划,以降低税负、提高效益。切不可滥用税务政策,误入偷税漏税的歧途。     

Climate change,urban energy and planning practices: Italian experiences of innovation in land management tools

Climate change and energy saving are challenging the city and the territorial organization. Innovative spatial and urban planning methods and procedures are required, and new approaches and instruments must be elaborated and applied in order to shift from the building scale to the urban and territorial ones. In fact, while energy saving and emission control measures are usually applied to single buildings, plants and technological systems, the urban and territorial scales are not fully considered, although energy consumption and greenhouse gases reduction are connected to the urban form and density, to activities allocation, to mobility, etc., thus involving spatial and land-use planning decisions. It is therefore urgent to overcome the divide between energy and urban planning by elaborating and using new implementation tools. In general, the usual top-down, public-led actions are no longer politically and economically viable, whereas new methods based on public–private partnerships are being progressively adopted. This is a major change, which may set new objectives for planning practices in terms of urban quality, equity, and energy efficiency. This perspective requires redefinition of the usual methods for development rights assignment, and the activation of new planning procedures based on the assessment of actions in terms of performance instead of conformance to pre-defined rules. The expected results regard a more efficient land market and better performing development (or re-development) choices.The article focuses on the Italian case and analyzes the possibility of integrating energy planning with spatial planning, the effectiveness of plan implementation mechanisms, and the prospect of integrate public-led interventions with market tools. Recent innovations in the legislative framework support the inclusion of energy saving and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals in plan implementation procedures.