Land Pooling for Resubdivision and New Subdivision in Western Australia

Abstract . Land pooling is a technique for the unified subdivision of separate private landholdings in urban-fringe areas. Pooling projects are self-financing and the costs and profits of each project are shared between the participating landowners. It provides local governments with a powerful tool for implementing their municipal land use plans and for ensuring an adequate supply of urban land. Local governments in Western Australia began using land pooling in 1951, first to redesign and service old, undeveloped subdivision estates (development projects), then to install special infrastructure works in new suburban areas, and later for the progressive development of their municipalities. By 1982 a total of 56 pooling projects ranging from 1.5 to 250 hectares had been undertaken in metropolitan Perth. The technique and its use in the state of Western Australia are described and discussed and improvements 3re proposed. A case history of a typical pooling project is presented in the appendix. The West Australian experience shows that land pooling could be adopted to improve urban development and land supply for housing in the U.S.A. and Canada, and in other mixed-economy countries.