Public Sector Leverages on Land Management in the Present Land Development Process in Asia Paul Baross Regional Development Dialogue 13, no. 1 (1992)

Urban input into enhancing urban productivity:  Spatial structure (specialization) of urban agglomerations  Infrastructure provision --specialized locations and the energy, water, transport, or communication required to profitability

LAND MANAGEMENT TOOLS Two sets of tools:  Revenue raising tools  Land use planning and public investment

Revenue-raising tools --taxation and betterment levies; land banking projects --designed to raise revenues from land possession and land use --potential powerful instruments for better urban management Ex.: higher revenues can cross-subsidize infrastructure development, finance large- scale projects (such as flood control, transit network, land reclamation, industrial parks)

Revenue raising tools… --land taxation requires registered titles and documentation of ownership sot there is an incentive to keep records, monitor land market, and facilitate feedback behavior linking specific public interventions in the land market and their actual outcomes --land taxation: resource-mobilizing activity; resource-spending responsibility --some land taxes are designed as punitive measures to discourage speculation and land hoarding such as the tax on vacant land and on land not used according to zoning

Conclusions  Little evidence that revenue-raising tools significantly influence land use because land use policy is usually implemented through planning and zoning  land taxes are only small cost components in the operating budget of firms; tax incentives use broader fiscal measures, not just taxation  Revenue-raising land management tools have little direct impact on efficiently enhancing urban inputs

Land use planning and public investment decisions --land use planning is the central tool for managing the development of cities --regulator of private investment --tool for location and sequencing of public investment --tool for ecological preservation --regulatory environment; laws and regulation (such as requirement for density, site coverage, subdivision, building, allocation of space for public uses, levels of infrastructure provision)

Land use planning and public investment decisions… --large sectors of Asian urban areas are devoid of infrastructure; there is a sharp land supply, land price, and land use response from even marginal improvements to service access Ex.: highways in Jakarta and Bangkok Slum improvement in Madras and Manila --road and traffic management are major efficiency constraints in many Asian cities

Land use planning and public investment decisions… --Access is one of the principal instrument affecting land availability, prices, and conversion for different uses Ex.: ribbon development and the spatial growth of cities --drainage and flood control is also a relevant tool in Asia

Conclusions  Orthodox land use planning methods are likely to be inefficient land management tools; regulatory environment will merely increase the cost of land development  Public or privatized investment in infrastructure provision will predictably have a major urban input impact on the efficiency of cities, both as space structuring device and as price input for firms and households  Public ownership, development and disposal of urban land has often been advocated as, but may actually not be, the most effective land management tool

STRATEGIC CHOICE Synchronize the three land management tools:  Adjust the regulatory environment --current zoning procedures, subdivision and building regulations, and government agency approvals are out of tune with the economic and institutional realities of land development actors --objective of control should be reserved to prevent health and environmental damage

 Increase revenue generation --raise revenue from land conversion and land use changes --less stringent regulatory environment to increase tax base

 Infrastructure development --undersupply of infrastructure renders the task of effective urban management problematic --infrastructure development affects firms’ locational choice --lack of infrastructure reduces legitimacy othe urban government to collect taxes

The urban government ought to be more free to set land development standards, tax their own enterprises and citizens, and find ways to provide for services required to enhance the urban input for successful growth.

Geography 161 First Sem, Reported by: Adrian R. Mendoza