Infrastructure and Land Policies

More than 50 percent of the global population resides in urban areas where land policy and infrastructure interactions facilitate economic opportunities, affect the quality of life, and influence patterns of urban development. While infrastructure is as old as cities, technological changes and public policies on taxation and regulation produce new issues worthy of analysis, ranging from megaprojects and greenhouse gas emissions to involuntary resettlement. This volume, based on the 2012 seventh annual Land Policy Conference at the Lincoln Institute, brings together economists, social scientists, urban planners, and engineers to discuss how infrastructure issues impact low-, middle-, and high-income countries.

Infrastructure drives economic and social activities. For urban areas, the challenges of balancing economic growth with infrastructure development and maintenance are reflected in debates about finance, regulation, and location and about the sustainable levels of infrastructure services. Relevant sectors include energy (electricity and natural gas); telecommunications (phone lines, mobile phone service, and Internet); transportation (airports, railways, roads, waterways, and seaports); and water supply and sanitation (piped water, irrigation, and sewage collection and treatment).

Recent research shows that inadequate infrastructure is associated with income inequality. This is likely linked to the delivery of infrastructure services to households, such as direct health benefits, improved access to education, and enhanced economic opportunities. Because so much infrastructure is energy intensive, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts must address services such as electric power and transport. Bringing the management of infrastructure up to levels of good practice has a large economic payoff, and performance levels vary dramatically between and within countries. A crucial unmet challenge is to convince policy makers and voters that large economic returns can result from improving infrastructure performance and maintenance.

This volume features the papers presented at the Lincoln Institute’s seventh annual Land Policy Conference in June 2012.

About the Editors

Gregory K. Ingram was president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy from 2005 to 2014.

Karin L. Brandt is the former research analyst and project administrator of interdepartmental programs at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Table of Contents

Preface, Gregory K. Ingram and Karin L. Brandt

Infrastructure, Land, and Development

1. Global Infrastructure: Ongoing Realities and Emerging Challenges, Gregory K. Ingram and Karin L. Brandt

2. Infrastructure and Urban Development: Evidence from Chinese Cities, Yan Song

Commentary: David Levinson

3. Mobile Telephony and Socioeconomic Dynamics in Africa, Mirjam de Bruijn

Commentary: Anthony M. Townsend

Finance, Regulation, and Taxation

4. Economic Regulation of Utility Infrastructure, Janice A. Beecher

Commentary: Timothy J. Brennan

5. The Unit Approach to the Taxation of Railroad and Public Utility Property, Gary C. Cornia, David J. Crapo, and Lawrence C. Walters

Commentary: J. Fred Giertz

6. The Location Effects of Alternative Road-Pricing Policies, Alex Anas

Commentary: Don Pickrell

The Challenges of Large Projects

7. Chicago and Its Skyway: Lessons from an Urban Megaproject, Louise Nelson Dyble

Commentary: Richard G. Little

8. Assessing the Infrastructure Impact of Mega-Events in Emerging Economies, Victor A. Matheson

Commentary: David E. Luberoff

9. Involuntary Resettlement in Infrastructure Projects: A Development Perspective, Robert Picciotto

Commentary: Dolores Koenig

Improving Sustainability and Efficiency

10. Sustainable Infrastructure for Urban Growth, Katherine Sierra

11 Understanding Urban Infrastructure-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Key Mitigation Strategies, Anu Ramaswami

Commentary: W. Ross Morrow

12. Strengthening Urban Industry: The Importance of Infrastructure and Location, Nancey Green Leigh

Commentary: Alain Bertaud

13 What Is the Value of Infrastructure Maintenance? A Survey, Felix Rioja

Commentary: Waheed Uddin

14. How and Why Does the Quality of Service Delivery Vary Across Countries?, George R. G. Clarke

Commentary: Ahmed Abdel Aziz