German Land Policy Revisited – Reflections and Lessons from Abroad
Inaugural meeting: International experts discuss the land question in Germany
The Academy of Spatial Planning and Research (ARL) facilitates an international debate on land policy with experts from academia, planning practice and policy in an explorative workshop, 29.-30. August 2019 in Mannheim. As part of the workshop, the participants discussed and reflected upon German land policy. In addition, further topics and sub-topics with relevance for land policy research and practice have been identified in order to establish a broader dialogue. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community showed interest in the topic. Director General Monika Thomas attended the workshop and discussed the results of the Building Land Commission with the group of international experts.
August 2019: Explorative workshop Land Policies in Europe in Mannheim
Before the international working group started, the German Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL) facilitated a debate on land policies in Europe with international experts from academia, planning practice and policy in an explorative workshop, 29.-30. August 2019 in Mannheim. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community showed interest in the topic with Director General Monika Thomas attending the workshop and report on the results of the Building Land Commission.
PR_German-Land-Policy_EN >
PM_Bodenpolitik_DE_2019 >
For more information on how the land policy goals of land thrift, housing, and densification are discussed in the international working group see this full workshop report (in German)
Hartmann & Hengstermann - 2020 - ARL Nachrichten p 60-61.pdf >
February 2020: International working group on Land Policies in Europe established
The international working group on Land Policies in Europe inspirits the necessary debate in Germany with references to other European countries. International renowned experts on the area of land policy and spatial planning will gather and discuss the pressing issues (not only) on German land policy. Core issues will be how instruments of land policy are used and can be used strategically to govern the scarce resource of land effectively, efficiently, just, and in a legitimized way to address the planning challenges of our time. The group was established by the ARL in February 2020 and works at least three years.
The governance structure of the working group is depicted in the organigram below. The working group at its core consists of members from 10 neighbouring countries to Germany and Germany itself. From each country – Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, and Germany – a full member and an associate member are appointed, representing the respective country perspective.
The working group is led by Thomas Hartmann and Andreas Hengstermann and supported by the ARL. (Tentative) cooperation partners are institutions and organization that support the working group by e.g. giving input or facilitating meetings by providing a venue for a meeting. Additionally, a group of friends of the working group complement the working group.
An advisory board of dedicated experts of land policy gives feedback to the discussions and steps in the working group. They act independently and impartially and give advice and recommendations on the content and progress of the working group. The advisory board consists of prof. dr. Rachelle, Alterman, prof. dr. Benjamin Davy, prof. dr. Stephane Nahrath, prof. dr. Erwin van der Krabben, and prof. dr. Tejo Spit.
ARL IAK Land Policy Organigramm - Okt 2020.jpg >
February 2020: Meeting of the international working group in Ústi and Labem (CZ)
The international working group met on the sidelines of the international conference on "Planning, Law, and Property Rights" in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic on February 17, 2020. During the meeting, the IAK discussed in an interactive format the substantive land policy challenges, starting from housing, land thrift and densification, discussed how to work together and defined next steps. It was a successful kick-off of the international working group on land policies in Europe. Besides clarifications of procedural questions, the inaugural meeting already initiated several content-related debates, they concerned the terminology and concepts used, and stakeholders involved.
See the full workshop report for more information
ARL IAK LAND POLICIES - Workshop report (Usti nad Labem).pdf>
February 2020: Presentation at the Conference on Planning, Law, and Property Rights in Ústi and Labem (CZ)
The results of the workshop have been presented and discussed at the next conference of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (www.plpr-association.org) in February 2020 in Usti nad Labem (CZ).
The presentation by Thomas Hartmann and Andreas Hengstermann entitled “Housing, land thrift and densification in European land policies – a comparative public policy analysis” explored how in many European urban areas land is under pressure, and thus land policy is high on political agendas in many European countries and plead for a broad debate on instruments of land policy and its strategic use. In their contribution the preliminary findings of the workshop in Mannheim have been presented by debating how land policies in in eight European countries (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, FR, NL, UK) deal with housing, land thrift and densification. They concluded that international comparative land policy allows a structured academic reflection on triggers and directions of changes in land policies and thus better land policy.
Read the full abstract in the book of abstracts:
http://plpr2020.ujep.cz/ >
October 2020: Online session on instruments of land policy – towards a land policy game
During the meeting, the draft bill based on the results of the German Expert Commission on the Long-term Provision of Building Land and Land Use Policy (‟Building Land Commission”) by the German government has been discussed. The session then facilitated a debate on how different land policy instruments in different countries function in the respective contexts. The results from the session are used as an input to develop a game on instruments of land policy.
