The Cost of Land Use Decisions Applying Transaction Cost Economics to Planning and Development

by Buitelaar, Edwin

• ISBN13: 9781405151238
• ISBN10: 1405151234
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-13
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

The ongoing debate between market vs government in planning is tackled in this important new book. By applying transaction cost economics to an evaluation of land use systems, the author provided a fresh angle and a useful contribution to a growing field of study for researchers in urban planning, public administration and land economics. The book explains the relevance of the cost of land use decisions to planning practice and analyses institutions and transaction costs. Evidence is provided from three systematic empirical studies. Detailed analyses are made of the planning of Nijmegen - Holland being known for its plan-led development; Bristol - where the UK planning system is characterised by being development-led and discretionary; and Houston, generally regarded as the city with no planning at all.

Author Biography

Edwin Buitelaar is an assistant professor in the department of Spatial Planning of the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Since February 2007 he also works as a researcher at the Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research in The Hague. His research concentrates on land markets and land use planning from an institutional angle.

Table of Contents

Preface

The Cost of Making Land Use Decisions

Introduction

Beyond the 'market versus the government' debates

The study of transaction costs in planning and property research

The relevance for planning practice

The structure of this book

References

Institutions and Transaction Costs

Economic approaches to institutionalism

Institutions and transaction costs in the (early) new institutional economics

Governance structures and property rights: building upon and refining Coase's work

How do transaction costs emerge? Transaction dimensions and economic behaviour

Relationship between transaction costs and institutions

References

Operationalising Institutions and Transaction Costs

User rights regimes as particular governance structures

A transaction-cost analysis of the development process: a methodology

The empirical research

References

Nijmegen

The Quest for Control in Corporatist Tradition

Dutch planning and property law

The Marialaan project: small but complex

Transaction-costs analysis of the Marialaan

References

Bristol: Planning In Uncertainty

English planning and property law

Wapping Wharf

Transaction-cost analysis of Wapping Wharf

References

Houston: Planning in the City That Does Not Plan?

Planning in the US: social conflict over property rights

Houston: no zoning, but not unregulated

Houston city planning in practice: Montebello

Transaction-cost analysis of Montebello

References

Comparing and Explaining Transaction Costs

Learning from the Cases

The user rights regimes compared

Transaction costs entangled in structures

References

Transaction Costs and the Institutional Context

The quest for control over development

Relationship between public and private sector

Attitudes towards transaction costs

Legal styles: Flexibility, certainty and accountability

References

Planning at What Cost?

Conclusions and Discussion

Applying transaction cost theory to planning and development

Transaction costs as dead weight losses or means with a purpose?

References

Interviewees

People Working in Planning

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.