Publications

Report from the President on Property Righ...

One of the longest standing debates in community economic development is between “place-based” and “peoplebased” approaches to combating poverty, housing affordability, chronic unemployment, and community decline. Should help go to distressed places or distressed peopl...

Harmful impacts of sprawl in terms of air and water pollution, waste of energy and time, traffic congestion and highway accidents, lack of affordable housing, increased flooding, and loss of biodiversity have been widely documented (Platt 2004, ch. 6). Also, the fiscal impacts of sprawl on local communities have been evaluated by researchers at the Brookings Institution, the Lincoln Institute of...

New evidence from Brazil indicates that the regulation of land use and building standards can reinforce other factors that contribute to informal and irregular urban land occupation. The magnitude and persistence of informality in Latin American cities cannot be fully explained by poverty rates (which are declining), insufficient public investment in social housing or urban infrastructure (which...

Emerging concerns about climate change impacts along with changing preferences for housing options are shaping the debate over growth patterns and sustainability. Climate modeling experts expect Arizona’s Sun Corridor to become hotter, drier, and more prone to extreme weather events. In a region where summer temperatures top 110°, annual precipitation is only 9 to 10 inches, and flood events...

Faculty Profile of Andrew Reschovs...

The community land trust movement is young but expanding rapidly. Nearly 20 CLTs are started every year as either new nonprofits or as programs or subsidiaries of existing organizations. Fueling this proliferation is a dramatic increase in local government investment and involvement. Over the past decade, a growing number of cities and counties have chosen not only to support existing CLT s, but...

During the 30 years since California adopted the groundbreaking tax limitation measure known as Proposition 13 in 1978, pressure has persisted for states to adopt various forms of property tax relief. These pressures often intensify during times of extremely rapid housing price inflation such as many states experienced between 1998 and 2006, but they remain a constant feature of the fiscal...

Program Calend...

The community land trust (CLT) movement is young but expanding rapidly. Nearly 20 CLTs are started every year as either new nonprofits or as programs or subsidiaries of existing organizations. Fueling this proliferation is a dramatic increase in local government investment and involvement. Over the past decade, a growing number of cities and counties have chosen not only to support existing CLTs,...

The property tax provides the bulk of local tax revenues for most local governments in the United States. Beyond being an important local government revenue source, the property tax also serves as the platform for many of local governments’ development incentive programs such as tax abatement schemes and tax increment financing. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the “mechanics” of...

With the publication of European Spatial Research and Planning, the Lincoln Institute adds a third volume to its series of investigations of spatial planning, research, and policy in Europe, all of them edited by Andreas Faludi. The previous titles are Territorial Cohesion and the European Model of Society (2007) and European Spatial Planning (2002). Each of these books examines the European...

This paper discusses the widespread existence of vacant land in Latin American cities. Specifically, it analyzes the evolution of the phenomenon -- focusing on three key historical phases -- and the diverse instruments that are available to assign productive uses to vacant area...

This paper calls into question the traditional approach to the topic of vacant land in Brazil, which concentrated on the problems associated with this phenomenon. The paper poses a series of questions that may help to better understand the issues. Among other questions are: What must be done in order to use vacant lots and buildings for social housing? What role can fiscal instruments and special...

This paper provides a critical analysis of the land regularization policies adopted in Brazil, identifying and classifying the diverse legal and urbanistic instruments applied in regularization of public and private areas and their effects of land regularization on land markets and the limitations of the eminently curative land regularization policies. The paper's premise is that, while not...

The number of community land trusts (CLTs) in the United States has grown rapidly in recent years, due largely to the expanding investment and involvement of local govern-ment. Municipalities are supporting CLT start-ups, CLT projects, CLT operations, and the equitable taxation of resale-restricted CLT homes. This city-CLT partnership is still evolving, however, with municipal officials and CLT...

During the 30 years since California adopted its groundbreaking tax limitation measure known as Proposition 13 in 1978, pressure has persisted for states to adopt various forms of property tax relief. These pressures often intensify during times of extremely rapid housing price inflation such as many states experienced between 1998 and 2006, but they remain a constant feature of the fiscal...

On-the-job training without the risks. The Community Partnering for Environmental Results is a simulation-based learning program designed to be used by professionals to practice and refine public outreach and community relations skills. This system was developed through a joint partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Institute for the Learning Sciences at...

This case study has been prepared as part of the Lincoln Institute’s program on “The City, Universities, and Land.” It has been written by Wim Wiewel (University of Baltimore), based on presentations at a workshop held at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy on September 18-19, 2005, by Joseph T. Maguire, Jr., John P. McQuaid, and Michael K. Owu (MIT); Gayle Farris (Forest City Enterprises);...

While many communities endeavor to contain growth in an amenable way through local land use regulations, growth can be displaced to adjacent communities. This paper explores the relationship between land use regulations adopted by local jurisdictions and residential construction. Using data of yearly single-family housing construction from a panel of 67 counties in Florida from 1993 to 2002,...

While there exists a large empirical literature on the capitalization of property taxes into home prices, very little work has been done to identify the effect of differences in property taxes on location choices. Further, what empirical work has been done typical suffers from iden¬tification problems due to aggregation bias, tax endogeneity, and con¬founding influences from the link between tax...

Resale-restricted, owner-occupied housing (sometimes referred to as “shared-equity homeownership”) offers an option for bringing homeownership within reach for lower income households. Few standardized policies and procedures exist for valuing and taxing resale-restricted homes, even in states where public policy favors this category of housing. To date, almost no research has been done in the...

This paper explores the applications of regional wealth estimation and accounting to metro areas of the U.S. The early research in the 1960s called for the economic valuation of regional resources to promote better stewardship of natural resources and environmental quality. This work has become part of the environmental economics field and plays an important role in the rigorous analysis of...

The study of fiscal decentralization has important policy implications for urban growth management, environmental conservation, and property taxation. First, fiscal decentralization gives local governments powers to set local taxes and make local expenditures. Second, in many countries local governments also have powers to regulate land uses within the general guidelines set by higher...

Though limited by Proposition 2 1/2, the reliance of Massachusetts's cities and towns on property tax revenue to fund municipal services leaves older industrial cities vulnerable to the cumulative effects of the growing gap in property values between rich and poor communities. In a study sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, we used a comparison between 12 older industrial cities...

Hong Kong is internationally known for its successful integration of rail transit investments and urban development. Through the “Rail + Property” development program, or R+P, Hong Kong’s rail operator, the MTR Corporation, is able to recapture the land-value increases created by rail investments to finance infrastructure investments. More than half of all revenues received by the MTR...

Many cities of the Northeast and Midwest have experienced loss of population and industry since the 1950s. The resulting drop in demand for land has led to owners’ abandonment of property and to vacant land after demolition of derelict structures. The result is large residential areas with vacant land and structures awaiting demolition, former retail strips with few buildings remaining, and...

The effect of land use regulations on property values has long been a topic of interest because of the potential welfare effects, distributional effects, and housing affordability effects. This study examines how Oregon’s land use planning system affects land prices in the Portland metro area. Since Oregon’s land regulations are intended to guide and control the location of development rather...

Capital expenditures at the local level will be significant during the next three decades. Frequently the capital budgeting process is dominated by engineers or the finance department, with little involvement from the planners and the planning commission. However, capital budgeting and finance is important for planners because of the impact these expenditures have on issues close to the heart of...

This research was sparked by a general observation that community based organizations (CBOs) do not use GIS effectively for community and land redevelopment initiatives even when software, hardware, training, data, formal partnership agreements and access to GIS services are all in place. A sample pool of CBOs was surveyed to gather information about their community planning and land...

Although many jurisdictions have large portions of their capital budgets funded by operating revenues, the cost of a new park, library or school or even a major upgrade of city hall or the police is usually well beyond the annual budget of a city or county government or special purpose agency. Most local governments will fund some portion of their capital facilities by borrowing. Bonds, sold to...

The property tax has been subject to much popular criticism and political pressure in recent decades. Several states have implemented, or are considering, a variety of caps and limits on property assessments, property tax rates, or total revenue raised from the property tax. Perhaps the best-known example is California’s Proposition 13, which ties property assessments to the purchase price of a...

During the last decade, bus rapid transit (BRT) has revolutionized regional transportation planning in much of the developing and developed world. BRT went from being a fringe transportation option used in a handful of Brazilian and Australian cities to becoming a prominent mass transportation alternative for local and national governments. Arguably the BRT concept with highest recognition is...

The conservation movement has used both private enterprises and public programs to preserve lands of ecological, aesthetic, and historical value. One notably successful effort has employed referenda for the conservation of open space. Between 1998 and 2006, some 1,550 referenda appeared on state, county, and municipal ballots across the United States, and their success rate was very high: nearly...

Jim Levitt focuses his work on conservation innovation—present-day and historic innovations that protect land and biodiversity. He has a particular interest in the role that innovations in conservation finance play in advancing the work of professional and volunteer conservation practitioners. In addition to his responsibilities as coordinator of the Lincoln Institute’s annual Conservation...

New Book Announcement: Making the Property Tax Work: Experiences in Developing and Transitional Countri...

New Book Announcement - Fiscal Decentralization and Land Polici...

New Book Announcement - Global Universities and Urban Development: Case Studies and Analys...

New Book Announcement - Toward a Vision of Land in 2015: International Perspectiv...

New Book Announcement - European Spatial Research and Planni...

New Book Announcement - Visioning and Visualization: People, Pixels, and Pla...

New Book Announcement - Transforming Community Development with Land Information Syste...

Program Calend...

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is supporting a new public radio series titled Shifting Ground that aims to bring new depth to the reporting of land use issues. This occasional series, airing on All Things Considered on National Public Radio, explores how land policy has an impact on the ground. The series showcases innovative tools and practices that are being applied in communities facing...

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy publishes and disseminates the work of its faculty, fellows, and associates in several formats. This catalog includes summaries of more than 100 books, policy focus reports, and multimedia products on a wide range of topics in valuation and taxation, planning and urban form, and economic and community development in the United States, Latin America, Europe,...

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy has collaborated with the International Center for Land Policy Studies and Training (ICLPST) in Taiwan for many years, and in October 2006 the two organizations cohosted a conference on land-related issues to commemorate the 100th international training course held at the center. The conference gathered some of the best thinkers on land issues to discuss their...

Two remarkable phenomena have affected the practice of planning over the past two decades: the rise of public involvement as an integral component of urban decision making, and the technological innovations that enable the visualization and simulation of physical reality. Together these phenomena anticipate the future, turning the planning process into a journey of discovery for professionals and...

Accurate land valuation is critical to land value taxation, which taxes land more heavily than improvements. In previous work we found three approaches to valuing the land component of improved properties. Using data for recently sold single-family residences in three study areas – one each for the three valuation approaches – this paper applies an hedonic pricing model to estimate in a single,...