Planning, Law and Economics sets out a new framework for applying a legal approach to spatial planning, showing how to improve the practice and help achieve its aims. The book covers planning laws, citizens' rights and property rights, asking 'What rules do we want to make and, where necessary, enforce? And how do we want to apply them in planning practice?' This book sets out, in general and illustrated with concrete examples, how the three types of law mentioned above are unavoidably involved in all types of spatial planning. The book also makes clear that these laws can be combined in different ways, each way a particular approach to the practice of spatial planning (regulative planning, structuring markets, pro-active planning, collaborative planning, etc.).

Throughout, the book shows what legal approaches can be taken to spatial planning, and uses a four-part framework to evaluate the effects of choosing such an approach. The spatial planning should be effective, legitimate, morally just and economically sound. In particular the book details why the economic effects for society are important and how spatial planning affects how the economic resources of land and buildings are used. The book will be invaluable to students and planners to understand the relationship between their actions and the basic principles of the rule of law in a democratic, liberal society.

About the Author

Barrie Needham is emeritus professor of spatial planning, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Edwin Buitelaar is a professor of land and real estate development at Utrecht University, the Netherlands, senior researcher on urban development at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), and research fellow at the Amsterdam School of Real Estate (ASRE).

Thomas Hartmann is associate professor at the Land Use Planning Group of Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands, and affiliated to the Faculty of Social and Economic Studies of the JEP University (UJEP) in Usti nad Labem, Faculty of Social and Economic Studies, Czech Republic.

Reviews

"Needham, Buitelaar and Hartmann have done us a great service. Globally, spatial planning is in a time of transition, and long-standing approaches are being fundamentally re-examined. The authors both take the subject back to its roots, and develop new ways of thinking which will allow us to achieve societal aims while respecting the rights (and needs) of landowners, land users, and future generations. -Harvey M. Jacobs, Professor (retired) , University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

"This book is an exquisite fusion of three usually separated fields: planning law, economics, and planning theory (its social-justice aspects). The appetizer is a hypothetical urban-regeneration story which deserves to become a classic in its own right. The chapters on property law, planning law and citizen rights unfold with admirable rigor around a conceptual anchor that transcends disciplinary and national borders. This is a must-read for scholars, students and practitioners in planning." -Rachelle Alterman, Professor Emeritus of Planning and Law, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

"Beyond discussion, the issue of law is one of the central pillars of planning theory and practice, and yet there are few books that tackle this theme head-on in a way that is both convincingly comprehensive and accessible. This book achieves this purpose brilliantly. It is a welcome addition to the literature, particularly as it systematically and effectively links the issue of law with crucial questions both of economics and of ethics. The book covers the theoretical issues in depth in all aspects of the topics in question, without neglecting the main implications at a practical level." -Stefano Moroni, Professor in Planning, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy

Book Information
ISBN 9781138085572
Author Barrie Needham
Format Paperback
Page Count 168
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 600g