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RuR: Call for Abstracts for a new Special Issue on Innovative Land Policies in Europe

Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning

The aim of this special issue is to collect inspiring and relevant cases of recent developments in land policies from different countries. By thus, the issue opens up a discussion and allows for reflecting viable pathways on sustainable urban development through land policies. 

The concurrence of multiple debates causes that land policies are high on the political and public agenda in many European countries. Due to the strong rise in asset prices, calls for more and affordable housing have become more prominent. However, easy solutions through urban expansion are unviable, as awareness of the detrimental ecological consequences of a continued conversion of agricultural land into urban land has grown, resulting in calls for a reduction of net land take. 

These debates challenge the development of adequate strategies through land policies. Land policies consider the framework of rights and obligations that ownership of land entails which is either part of planning or goes beyond it. Actors apply land policies, which comprise instruments such as building obligations, pre-emption rights, land value capture, and development strategies that rely on the public ownership of land.

The current urgency of many topics of land policies is triggering the development of new approaches and instruments.  In this special issue, we compile current developments in the land policies of various countries worldwide, with a focus on Europe, with regard to sustainable spatial development, to allow a cross-country comparison without neglecting the locational specificity of new measures. 

The deadline for abstracts is 30th June 2022.

For further information on the Special Issue, timetable and contact, please read the full Call for Abstracts (PDF)