Large urban developments as the new driver for land development in Jeddah

Land development in most Saudi cities including Jeddah is generated by formal land subdivision and informal land development usually referred to as unplanned settlements. Both types of developments contributed to urban sprawl and other urban challenges. Jeddah Municipality attempted to improve land development by encouraging large urban developments. Recently, Jeddah Municipality approved four large urban developments which appear to manifest encouraging implications for urban growth and land development that this paper aims to explore. The paper examines the policy and market contexts that govern land development in general and large urban developments in particular, in order to pave the way to uncover their implications for city growth and land development. The data gathered for this purpose is drawn from published and unpublished reports from relevant authorities. It is found that large urban developments as new mechanisms of land development appear incapable of overcoming key challenges that face city growth and existing land development.     

Constraints affecting the efficiency of the urban residential land market in developing countries: a case study of India

Access to serviced land for housing is one of the major problems faced by practically all developing countries. In most cities of developing countries, the urban poor and even the middle-income group often have to step outside the formal land market to gain access to land and housing. Generally, in cities of developing countries the informal land market is much bigger than the formal market. To improve the operation of the formal land market it is necessary to understand the constraints that are preventing it from operating efficiently. It was found that finance, policies, regulation, laws and other instruments formulated to improve the efficiency of the land market have often themselves become constraints requiring change. It is suggested that to overcome these constraints it will be necessary for governments to recognise the informal market and work with it, rather than ignore or oppose it as at present.     

Making places: The role of attachment in creating the sense of place for traditional streets in Malaysia

Sense of place definition includes the point where the physical element, activity and meaning are intertwined in the people experience of place. In urban design and place quality research, much has been discussed on the significance of the physical elements and activities in creating the sense of place; however, the role of place attachment as a component that gives places meaning(s) has not been adequately explored. This article is based on the main findings of a doctoral research examining attachment to traditional shopping streets in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Surveys and face-to-face interviews were conducted with users of the streets to investigate place attachment and its influence on place identity. The finding demonstrates that attachment to the traditional streets is strong and it influences the users’ perception on the identity of the places. The streets were regarded as very important in sustaining the economic activities and meaningful in accentuating cultural diversity and self and group identity. The historical significance of the area as the earliest shopping locations in the city evoked personal and shared meanings to the long-term users who developed stronger place attachment. The paper concludes by establishing that place attachment has a significant contribution to the sense of place therefore should be considered in the design of urban places especially when redevelopment is one of the options.     

破解土地资源瓶颈 积极推进经济发展方式转变——“上海转变城市发展方式思路与重点”研讨会综述

在上海未来发展中,能源、土地、水资源等自然资源的供给约束已经成为影响上海经济社会发展的关键因素。特别是有限的土地供给成为上海＂十二五＂时期发展的重要瓶颈。清醒地认识土地资源约束的影响,通过优化土地空间配置和促进土地循环利用来破解土地资源困境,是促进经济社会发展转型和提升城市发展质量的前提,对上海＂十二五＂规划编制和上海2020年中长期发展战略至关重要。     

Why the principle of informed self-determination does not help local farmers facing land loss: a case study from oil palm development in East Kalimantan,Indonesia

ABSTRACT

The principle of informed self-determination has been celebrated as a means to prevent involuntary land transfer and the resulting dispossession of affected communities in agricultural investments of developing countries. Based on qualitative field research conducted in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, this paper argues that such optimistic recognition needs reexamination. Drawing on a case study of indigenous Dayak communities that have faced advancement of large-scale oil palm estates since 2007, the paper examines what informs communities’ decisions to release land to estates. The underdevelopment created by government neglect and the lack of future prospects for autonomous development are shown to have contributed to communities’ decisions to release land. After a decade, encroaching palm oil has produced land shortages and depleted forest resources. This study highlights the need for meaningful state interventions to alleviate poverty and create conditions that allows local communities to make meaningful choices during the consultations over land release.     

Towards a theory of the American rural residential land market

Since the late 1960s there has been a notable acceleration in America in the demand for rural residential land within commuting range of urban and suburban employment and service opportunities. American rural residential households do not seem to purchase acreage tracts primarily for their ‘productive’, or resource value, however. Instead, they purchase rural land for its ‘consumptive’ or residential value, as its value is primarily derived from the bundle of residential attributes associated with it. Over time, rural land within commuting range of metropolitan areas becomes underproductive and idled — a situation which precedes urban sprawl. Rural residential development has thus become a focus of debate on the effects and inefficiencies associated with urban sprawl. Yet, not enough is known about the nature of the rural residential land market. It is argued that American rural residential households are different from their suburban and urban counterparts for at least three reasons. First, they are distinguishable for their pursuit of self-sufficiency, self-expression, and the cultural status that a rural residential lifestyle offers. Second, they seek low cost rural jurisdictions in order to afford more housing and land than they could afford in higher cost urban and suburban locations. Third, they value distance from the city center colinearly with externalities such as pollution, crime, overcrowding, and noise associated with central city areas. In the latter sense, American rural residential households value land more highly the farther away it is from the city center, but discount land value the farther away it is from the boundary of urban development. In light of these considerations, this paper (a) reviews the literature describing the motivations of American rural residential households, (b) poses a theory of the American rural residential land market, (c) applies the theory to a case study, and (d) offers implications of the theory to planning efforts aimed at preserving resource land and containing urban sprawl.     

新加坡城市交通发展模式对广州的启示

新加坡在经济快速发展、人口密度极高、土地资源限制下,仍能保持交通便利与行车顺畅,其成功在于塑造了“公交都市”,通过一系列组合政策运用,避免了交通拥挤带来的问题。新加坡的成功经验表明,交通拥堵问题是系统问题,必须从系统的角度寻找解决交通拥堵的良策,这对目前正努力建设公交都市的广州未来交通政策的制定尤其值得借鉴。     

转型期城市更新中土地再开发的模式与机制研究

在总结和评价转型期我国城市更新中土地再开发的模式与机制的基础上，从土地制度视角深入分析土地再开发制度与城市更新的关系及内在矛盾，并提出城市更新与土地再开发协同治理机制及政策建议。     

市场主导下的快速城市化地区更新规划初探——以深圳市香蜜湖为例

快速城市化背景下,随着经济的快速增长和城市空间的不断拓展,通过城市更新进行存量土地资源的整合和潜力挖掘,已经成为实现城市社会经济可持续发展的重要途径。同时,深圳相对成熟的市场化环境也使得当地城市更新面临着更加复杂的局面。本文试图通过对深圳近年来城市更新规划实践的梳理,基于实证分析总结市场化背景下城市更新的经验和教训,为国内其他城市的城市更新实践提供一些参考。     

Interest distribution in the process of coordination of urban and rural construction land in China

Since the onset of rapid economic development and urbanization, China’s land resources—rather than capital, technology and human resources—have become the lead limiting factor in constraining economic growth. Coordination of urban and rural construction land (CURCL) can be a very effective means for reducing conflicts between economic development and land protection. This research examines the roles of stakeholders involved in the CURCL process. The reasons why the interests of legitimated stakeholders were encroached upon are analyzed and countermeasures to protect the interests of legitimated stakeholders are proposed. Ambiguously defined property rights for owners of rural construction land, unclear conceptions of the public interest, and overlap of power and interest among multiple levels of authority are the reasons why legitimated stakeholders’ interests were encroached upon. Legitimizing construction land ownership clearly, better defining the multiple conceptions of public interest, opening up express channels for expression of the public interest, and clarifying governments’ functions in land interest adjustment are the countermeasures to protect the interests of legitimated stakeholders.     

Locational factors and the urban fringe land market

The rural-urban fringe land market is a complex interaction of behavioral, institutional and locational economic factors. These factors are analysed in relation to transactional sales prices for undeveloped fringe land. The resultant models estimate the role of several of these factors in the demand for fringe land. Parcel size, access to peripheral urban centers, zoning, land use and the interactions of location and specific land uses are the primary determinants of the transactional sale prices. Understanding the composition of the demand function within the fringe land market context will assist in comprehending the complexity of the fringe land market and the land conversion process.     

Planning and development control through lease conditions

The Hong Kong government has pledged to deal with the imbalance between supply and demand of housing. Given the innate constraints of limited land resources in Hong Kong and the extensive and expedient control enforced through lease conditions, the Hong Kong government can alleviate the long-recognized problem of housing shortage by modifying specific development conditions. Therefore, the supply of housing units can be changed at a faster pace to satisfy the requirement of private dwellings. Other factors affecting the property market in Hong Kong include land supply, economic issues, population growth, and income growth. Many studies, for example, Hui et al. (Monograph, Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Government (Study of Housing Demand, Hong Kong Government Printer, Hong Kong and Study of Housing Demand Model, Hong Kong Government Printer, Hong Kong), have investigated in detail the impacts of these factors on the property market. However, little or nothing is known about the planning and development control through lease conditions. Therefore, this study particularly attempts to examine how the Hong Kong government exerts its influence in the local private residential market through changing the development conditions. These conditions will be studied separately and distinctively in order to capture their unitary effects upon the local private residential real estate market. Section 1 looks at Hong Kong's tenure system, followed by the deliberation of how planning and development control is done through lease conditions (in Section 2). 3 and 4 set out the analytical framework and report on the findings of how lease conditions affect property supply. The concluding section gives out recommendations.     

Services for urban poor families in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: a case study

With 25% of its population living in over 148 squatter settlements, with a high incidence of communicable diseases, teenage pregnancies, and psychological and familial stress, the city of Kuala Lumpur has sought ways to improve conditions. This article describes one particularly promising approach: community-based centers integrating three socioeconomic components--preschool education, maternal and child health clinics, and income-generating activities.     

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION,LAND MARKET,AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE CITIES

This article investigates how government intervention in land market affects China's urban development, using data from prefecture‐level cities between 2000 and 2010. We find that government intervention enlarges the impact of positive productivity shocks on housing price appreciation, through mainly the government control over residential land supply. However, we find no significant evidence that high government intervention constrains population growth and leads to wage increase. Such patterns of urban dynamics can be explained by the fact that migrant workers are the driving force behind China's urbanization, but they have limited housing demand and are not well compensated. (JEL P52, R12, H11)     

TIME ALLOCATION IN AN EXCHANGE-PRODUCTION PARADIGM

The three uses of one's time — leisure, nonmarket work, and market work — are affected by the availability of others' time for sale in the market. The paper integrates the supply of time and the demand for others' time by means of geometric models of exchange and production. Possible patterns of market work behavior are enriched by the incorporation of proportional and lump-sum transaction costs. The diversity of the results argues against indiscriminate reliance on institutional restrictions in explaining work decisions.     

CREDIT CONSTRAINTS AND LABOR SUPPLY: EVIDENCE FROM BANK BRANCHING DEREGULATION

This paper examines labor supply adjustment-both at the intensive and extensive margins-following financial market development. Specifically, we exploit the staggered passage of bank branching deregulation in the United State to study the impact of relaxing credit constraints on labor supply decisions. We find strong evidence that improvements in how credit markets function decrease weekly hours worked, and that the effect is most significant for the lower-middle (marginal) income group. Furthermore, we observe heterogeneous responses across demo graphic groups (race and income). In contrast, we find little to no evidence that deregulation has a significant impact on the extensive margin of participation.     

Formation of land market institutions and their impacts on agricultural activity

The process of transformation of Bulgarian agriculture from a centrally controlled economy to a market-oriented economy is resulting in land reform, which will necessitate the immediate development and operation of land markets. On the one hand, the land reform is restoring land to those who owned it in the year 1947, or their heirs, who not only have very small and scattered holdings, but who often live in urban areas far from the claimed land and do not practice farming. On the other hand, farming is being changed by the liquidation of the former collective farms and the emergence of privately managed farms and new forms of co-operatives. These new operating units may or may not have their own land claims, but in most cases, do not have immediate access to sufficient land for adequately sized operations. Without land market institutions for information, contracting land use, and enforcement of contractual rights, the transaction costs of bringing the suppliers of land together with those demanding land will result in unused land and distorted agricultural activity. The paper explores both the formation of institutions and the evidence of transactions, as well as the possible impacts on farming.     

Small business development in remote rural areas: The example of mature manufacturing firms in Northern England

There is a growing interest in the potential contribution of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to rural economic development, as reflected in the Rural Development Commission's strategy for the 1990s. Using some evidence on the development of mature manufacturing SMEs in remoter rural areas during the 1980s and comparing them with similar urban based firms, the paper shows that whilst there was little difference between the rural and urban SMEs in terms of their growth performance when measured by sales turnover, the rural firms generated significantly more jobs. This indicates a different relationship between SME growth and employment generation in different geographical environments. SMEs in remote rural areas are shown to pursue rather different development paths than their urban counterparts resulting from the way in which they adjust to the opportunities and constraints afforded by their local operating environments. The main section of the paper focuses on three particular kinds of adaptation: (i) to local market conditions, and in particular on the ability of SMEs to make the transition into national and international markets; (ii) to local labour market conditions, including various qualitative characteristics of rural labour such as skill levels and functional flexibility; and (iii) to the lack of an industrial milieu, especially the limited opportunities for externalising production. The paper concludes by raising some concerns about the longer term competitiveness of SMEs in remote rural areas including low levels of labour productivity, technological backwardness and skill levels within the workforce.     

Silent privatisation of customary land in Zambia: opportunities for a few,challenges for many

The conversion of customary land into leasehold tenure has sparked intense debates in Zambia and beyond. Growing interest in land in the last decade and half has led to a spike in demand for land across Africa, especially land adjacent to major cities, towns and developed infrastructure. This growing demand for land is gradually being directed at customary land, which well-resourced urban and local elites, as well as foreign investors, are converting from customary to private tenure, raising serious questions about the future of customary land in Africa. This paper discusses the emerging dynamics around customary land conversion drawing from a case study conducted in Chongwe and Chibombo districts in Zambia. Evidence gathered in this study suggest that while the conversion of customary land to leasehold tenure is generating opportunities for the urban elite, a few traditional leaders and international investors, it is, at the same time, creating serious challenges for the majority of the people in the local communities.     

Assessing the transportation consequences of land use transformation in urban China

This paper assesses the accessibility and mobility consequences of urban land transformation in expanding Chinese cities. It defines transportation–land use connections in China's context and analyzes the accessibility and mobility uncertainties associated with current urban development themes, including the formulation of CBD, the development of satellite communities, and the evolution toward multi-center layout. This article points out that appropriate accessibility and mobility objectives are not well considered in land development, and current development themes tend to lengthen trips and lead to increased congestion in the context of growth and motorization. A strong national leadership is needed to help city governments integrate accessibility and mobility objectives into urban development.