The land resource: Policy and management

Summary

This paper advocates the preparation by major urban planning authorities of land budgets to obtain a satisfactory balance between the development of derelict or vacant land and greenfield sites. Such budgets, requiring a city‐regional dimension, should be implemented by the public and private sectors, both of which need to find means of channelling profits from peripheral or out‐of‐town projects to counter losses on the development or ‘greening’ of inner‐city sites. Suggestions are made as to the form of land budgets, and the means by which they could be put into effect. The paper reviews briefly the various outlooks on the issue of balance between the development of urban and rural land, and the state of the art of priority setting for this purpose by central and local government. Although high standards are set by a few metropolitan areas in accounting for and monitoring the land resource, this is by no means widespread. Indeed in several major urban areas the matter does not even appear to be treated as a policy issue. Amongst the measures required to improve the situation is the need for wider use of skills attuned to development finance and management.     

An innovative means of urban land development: A case study of Trichur in India

Summary

For more than seven decades, several Indian states have used the plot reconstitution technique in managing urban land development. Recently, Kerala, a small southern state, has experimented with this technique for the first time in a scheme in Trichur. The Trichur experience is unique in that it incorporates significant innovations over a somewhat similar method of land readjustment which is widely practiced in the Asian‐Pacific region. Formulated for complete cost‐recovery, the Trichur project incorporates the active cooperation of the landowners and officials, and is a time‐bound programme to complete all land development and building construction works within six years of the finalization of the scheme proposals.

This paper attempts to explore the use of this innovative means of land development in Trichur with a view to assessing the potentiality and constraints in its use, and identifying critical areas where further refinements would be desirable. Based on fieldwork in the state and intensive interviews, the paper finds the Trichur experience to be of great importance as a viable strategy of urban land development and management. The paper concludes with some recommendations on legal and institutional aspects, and stresses the need for refinements in the scheme preparation and information dissemination for transferability and wider application of the technique.     

Telecommunications and the future of cities∗

Summary

This article examines the impact of new telecommunications technologies on urban growth and development. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the author argues that new technologies are strengthening large ‘world cities’ that are centres for international finance and information services. The author describes the emerging telecommunications infrastructure in the US and analyses the distinctive roles of government and business in the planning and development of this infrastructure. Drawing upon data from major financial institutions, the author analyses the location of corporate headquarters and information processing centres. The conclusions suggest that there will be growing disparities between urban and rural telecommunications systems and the consequences for office development.     

Managing urban growth in a transforming China: Evidence from Beijing

Managing urban growth in the current rapid urbanization process has become a key issue for land use policy in transformation China. This paper maps and assesses the performance of urban containment strategies in China, looking at the case of Beijing over a 19-year period (1990–2009). The analysis shows that to a large extent containment strategies perform well in terms of concentrating urban growth in planned suburban areas and promoting compact development. However, the unexpected growth in the rural–urban fringe and the decreased compactness of the fringes of the mixed urban areas and planned peripheral constellations caused by dispersed and illegal development suggest that the municipal containment strategies are being challenged by local development activities. Most sprawling developments at the local level are favoured by the new trend towards local autonomy and fiscal responsibility in the current transformation process. The results reveal that municipal growth control might not be achieved by all local jurisdictions when local economic motivations are involved. Particularly, urban sprawl has been fuelled by the development of urban real estate which can create significant revenues for local government and private developers. In the interest of future policy development, the management capacity of current containment strategies should be enhanced to mitigate the negative effects of market-led development in the present transformation context.     

Management problems of urban land development in Nigeria: A case of the Kano State Urban Development Board

Summary

This paper presents the major findings of an empirical investigation on the shortcomings of the Kano State Urban Development Board in managing the development and use of new urban land. From generalizations on the factors which have hamstrung the Board's effectiveness in three separate cases it appears that the major issues centre around long‐standing contradictions in legislation. These may be difficult to remove at the moment but in the interest of effective land development management something has to be done.     

Developer behaviour and development control

Summary

Studies by the North Carolina group established the decision modelling approach to study urban growth. These studies established the central role played by developers in the process, and the rational and adaptive behaviour of developer decision‐making. Events have since changed the developer's decision environment: the growing complexity and uncertainty of the development control process and the changing structure of the development industry towards larger and more integrated firms.

This author argues that if developers are truly rational and adaptive there should be some observable and stable relationship between their structure and operation and their performance in the development control process. This paper reports the findings of a case study which examines such relationships in the subdivision approval process in Scarborough, Ontario. Thirteen developer/development variables were tested. The major finding is that firm size was the most important variable. Large firms did not do well in negotiation but they took much less time in implementing the conditions of approval and in starting the building work. It is further argued that such behaviour is compatible with the financial, production and marketing characteristics of development firms.     

Forecasting housing land requirements

Summary

Because of pressures on the countryside by private housing development, the Government and the planners have become increasingly involved in planning policy issues and in forecasting land requirements. The forecasting techniques used are examined, and their translation into local allocations through structure and local plans and land availability studies are looked at. The demand for more land releases is attributed more to structural changes in the housebuilding industry and local land shortages in the south‐east than to real shortfalls in housing provision. There is a need for improved monitoring systems for land resource management, particularly in balancing ‘green‐field’ releases against development/redevelopment in existing urban areas.     

Terms of trade effects on endogenous growth rates in LDCs

Abstract

This paper presents a model in which long‐term GDP growth rates of LDCs are dependent upon world price levels. The model combines an endogenous growth framework a la Romer (1986, Journal of Political Economy, 94, pp. 1002–1037) with traditional Heckscher‐Ohlin‐Samuelson international trade, while assuming investment in capital to be financed solely by domestic savings. This relatively strong assumption is justified by the empirical observation that for most LDCs foreign investment constitutes only a very small part of gross capital formation. We find that an increase in the price of capital‐intensive goods will raise the long‐term growth rate. In other words, in this model protection of the capital‐intensive goods sector will cause higher economic growth.     

哈尔滨城市边缘区及其生态经济问题探讨

哈尔滨城市边缘区生态经济发展的研究,能够优化城市功能区布局、促进城市边缘区生态建设。本研究采用乡镇综合实力指数与地理信息系统相结合的方法,探讨了城市边缘区范围及生态经济建设问题。结果表明,哈尔滨市城市边缘区存在生态环境破坏严重、第二产业比重过大、企业之间缺少产业链条联系、耕地面积急剧缩减和政府规划管理不合理等问题。加大环境保护力度、调整产业结构实现多元化发展、加强政府引导优化产业链条、加强土地资源管理、强化统一规划和管理,可以提高哈尔滨城市边缘区的生态建设水平。     

Housing land availability — some observations of the process of housing development in contrasting urban locations

Summary

Housing development operates at different levels of intensity in the urban areas of Britain, and private and public housebuilders exert varying pressures on local planning authorities. The findings of a research study on the provision of land for residential development in urban areas are examined by means of six case studies. These expose the significance of landownership and planning policies in influencing the rate of housing development. In order to exploit fully the potential of urban sites for residential development there is a need for coordinated action by local authorities which may include compulsory purchase power and a housing development budget.     

城乡结合部土地价格及变动机制探析--以北京市城乡结合部为例

城乡结合部是城市发展和变化的聚焦地带。对城乡结合部地价进行调查和研究,不仅可以了解城市化过程的地价水平和变动规律,也可以透过土地市场和价格的研究对城市化的发展和演变过程进行探索,为城市的发展和建设提供导向和政策建议。在实际调查的基础上,对北京市城乡结合部土地价格变动规律,以及土地价格的形成机制等问题进行讨论,并试图揭示城乡结合部地价的变动规律及其对土地市场和城市发展的重要影响。     

Land use dynamics and planning problems in a rurban fringe environment: The case of Onitsha,Nigeria

This article discusses the land use dynamics in the urban fringe of Onitsha—one of the fastest growing towns in Nigeria. It analyses the land conversion process In the city's rurban fringe and looks at the characteristic features of such a fringe environment, namely the loss of prime agricultural land in the urban fringe areas, the dysfunctional use of land in the zone and a confused administrative set-up to handle these problems. The land use planning implications associated with these characteristics are looked at.     

城市边缘区土地权属变化分析 ———以北京市大兴区为例

城市边缘区土地利用变化剧烈,权属变化明显。大兴区作为北京市城市边缘区的重要组成部分,其土地权属变化具有一定的代表性。该文以其为例,分析城市边缘区土地权属变化情况:在强度变化上,国有未利用地变化最为强烈,集体农用地变化最为微弱;在空间变化上,国有建设用地对北京市相同地类空间变化的影响最大,而集体农用地影响最小。最后运用主成分分析法得出经济发展、城市化、人民生活水平提高三大影响因素。     

St Adam and the Dragons: Neo‐classical economics and the East Asian miracle

Abstract

This paper addresses recent explanations for the East Asian miracle. The argument that growth is entirely due to the accumulation of inputs is assessed and found wanting. There is still a place for the view that attributes success to activist policy. This is especially so, since the other explanations of East Asian success are rarely wholly convincing. The paper demonstrates that popular cross‐country models of growth usually fail to explain the East Asian experience, but presents evidence supporting emphasis on favourable initial conditions, including early specialization in manufacturing.     

Welfare implications of reduced government subsidies to farm families: accounting for fringe benefits

In the past three decades, farm families have relied on government payments and off‐farm income to reduce income risk and increase total household income. Studies have shown that, as the income effect dominates, government payments tend to reduce off‐farm labor of farm operators and spouses. But that may not be true if one accounts for fringe benefits associated with off‐farm employment. Additionally, with looming budget deficits and the possibility of a reduction in decoupled government payments, farm families may be facing an altered economic environment. Our study addresses this issue by examining the links between government farm program payments and the ever‐important role of fringe benefits in the off‐farm employment of farm couples. Results from farm‐level data actually show that the marginal effect of government payments on hours worked off‐farm will decrease in magnitude when accounting for fringe benefits, ceteris paribus. These results support the notion that farm households’ welfare loss stemming from reduced decoupled payments may be overstated when models exclude fringe benefits from the estimation of off‐farm labor supply.     

太原城市边缘区建设用地扩展研究

城市边缘区,是城市地域结构的一个重要组成部分,在城市郊区化和乡村城镇化的双重催化下,经济发展迅速,土地利用不断变化,成为土地利用/土地覆被变化最为激烈的地区之一。本文以1990年、2000年、2006年和2010年的TM遥感影像为基础信息源,提取四个时相的建成区范围,并对近20年来的太原市城市扩展过程进行动态监测研究,结果表明:1)1990~2010年,20年间太原市边缘区建设用地共扩展了191.81 km2;2)从时间上看,2006~2010年的扩展速度最快,强度最大;3)从景观格局上看,1990~2006年以斑块数增加,紧凑度减小的分散扩展模式为主,2006年后以斑块数减少,紧凑度增大的规模扩展模式为主;4)从空间发展上看,具有明显的空间分异特征,且在不同的时间段,这种特征表现不同。     

Government Policies and Sources of Latecomer Firms' Capability Building: A Learning Story from Brazil

Millennium goals aim to halve poverty in developing countries by 2015. As a distinction is not drawn between the persistently and transiently poor, there is a risk that strategies designed to accelerate growth to achieve the desired reduction in an overall index of poverty may be preferred to those that benefit the persistently poor. Besides, in the absence of a disaggregation of these goals into rural and urban components, rural poverty reduction may not get the priority it deserves. Finally, the feasibility of the millennium goals is not plausible. While the growth rates required for achieving these goals do not differ much from those recorded in recent years, their sustainability is not self-evident. Moreover, as income inequality has increased in recent years, the poverty reduction due to a given growth rate is lower. But these goals are nevertheless useful in drawing attention to pervasive deprivation in developing countries, and to the need for a determined and co-ordinated effort by the development community in reducing it substantially in the not-too-distant future.     

Recent trends in the supply of land for industrial development in Hong Kong: A case study in planned decentralization

Summary

Although free enterprise remains the dominant characteristic of the Hong Kong economy, new land supply is controlled largely by the Hong Kong Government. Rather than establish a detailed system of development plans and controls, the Government has been able to achieve substantial decentralization of housing and industry through the location of new land release. The evidence suggests that industrial developers have been willing to build and industrialists to locate in decentralized areas, especially those close to the main urban areas. Furthermore, although vacancy rates are generally higher and rental levels lower in decentralized compared to centralized locations, the extent of the differences over time is not as pronounced as might be expected. Indeed, the overall strength of demand for industrial land, other than in the recent slump, has necessitated special policies to protect land for low‐density industrial users in decentralized locations. As planned decentralization approaches completion, attention is beginning to focus upon redevelopment in the older urban areas and upon the consequences of the Sino‐British Joint Declaration of 1985. Overall, recent land policies in Hong Kong offer the British observer some useful indications of the impact of government intervention in land use on existing property markets.     

Land-use planning: Implications for transport sustainability

This research study explores three urban planning scenarios for Melbourne, Australia in 2030 and their implications for transport sustainability. As part of the analyses, a transport sustainability index, derived from 10 sustainability indicators, was developed and applied to compare the scenarios. A base-case scenario, an activity-centres scenario, and a fringe-focus scenario were used to consider compact to expanded urban development patterns. The activity-centres scenario, which favours compact development patterns, had the highest transport sustainability index. In contrast, the fringe-focus scenario that significantly expands urban development in the fringe resulted in a lower transport sustainability index. The results of scenario analysis would influence decisions regarding urban development in 2030.     

An Empirical Investigation of Short- and Long-run Agricultural Wage Formation in Ghana

Abstract

It is difficult for both analytical and empirical reasons to identify the precise contours of the Post‐Mao Chinese model of development and there is much that remains unclear or contested. However, the general contours suggest a pattern of development increasingly close to the familiar East Asian model of developmental dictatorship, though with distinctive characteristics deriving from China's size and complexity and its state‐socialist heritage. Although evaluations of Chinese developmental performance have tended to be generally positive, there has been a recent escalation of serious problems which threaten to undermine previous achievements, pose questions about the prospects for sustainability and make the task of evaluation more complex and contestable than before. In consequence, conventional arguments about the superiority of the “Asian” approach to economic reform and the trade‐off between economic growth and political liberalization are losing force.