The impact of land use regulations on residential land values in the Wa municipality, Ghana

The living standards of the residents of an urban area are influenced, either positively or negatively, by land use regulation via its impact on land values. This paper examines the development control regime in Wa municipality, Ghana, and its implications for residential land values. The dual aim of the study was to find out whether developers are complying with the system of land use regulations in the municipality and also to document the state of enforcement by the planning authority. These aims were achieved through a review of the literature on development controls and by collating empirical data obtained from land developers. It was found that development controls are largely not enforced in Wa municipality. Delays were noted in the land use regulation system and the residents?? image of the system was reported. It was also found that the land use ordinance and the building code are not consistent with the socio-economic state of the municipality??s residents. It is concluded that these conditions have led to haphazard development and have impacted negatively on land values in the municipality. It is suggested that the Wa Municipal Assembly should ensure strict compliance with land use regulations and should also address the regulation-related problems. The paper recommends a revision of the building code and the town and country planning ordinance.     

Negotiating the Global and the Local: Evaluating Development Through Public–Private Partnerships in Durban,South Africa

Within a context of transition, South African cities such as Durban are required to address the dual development imperatives of socio-economic redistribution and increasing global competitiveness. Processes associated with shifts to urban governance and partnerships are being drawn on to achieve these urban development goals. In 1999, the Durban Growth Coalition, a strategic partnership between business and government, emerged to address urban economic development concerns. The partnership has led to the successful planning and implementation of various flagship developments within the city. This paper evaluates the processes of the Coalition and associated projects in order to assess to what extent the partnership is successfully addressing the dual imperatives of post-apartheid redress and integration into the global economy. The paper thus critically examines the implications of using public–private partnerships as mechanisms for equitable development in South Africa and highlights the possibility of the emergence of deliberative processes of decision-making through partnerships.     

Durban’s Back of Port Project: a Local Spatial Knowledge Production Process Framed by Urban Entrepreneurialism

Cities position themselves to compete in the global economy using large-scale entrepreneurial interventions, which have the potential to significantly alter urban landscapes (Harvey 1989). Within this broad urban entrepreneurial approach, it is useful to reflect on localised knowledge production processes and the actors and power embedded in them, which result in particular urban development outcomes in cities. This paper analyses a spatial planning exercise, the Back of Port (BoP) Project, initiated in Durban in 2007 by its administrative entity eThekwini Municipality, and produced by local consultants, which reflects a particular form of urban entrepreneurialism. The BoP Project aimed to increase the competitiveness of the Durban port through improving city infrastructure, addressing congestion at the port-city interface and ensuring economic growth in the city, in a highly contested and political space. The resultant knowledge production process and the spatial framework that was produced, were shaped by global urban policy and the politics and practices of local government, civil society organisations and the knowledge fields of specialist consultants. The BoP spatial planning exercise reveals how urban policy is unfolding in a city in the South, in response to global processes of urban economic development, national imperatives and local challenges. The research reveals that knowledges associated with an economic and functional discourse-coalition became hegemonic, whilst counter-hegemonic knowledges around social and environmental justice struggled to frame the spatial plan.     

The Role of Spatial Development Frameworks in Transformation of the eThekwini Municipality,KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa: Reflecting on 20 Years of Planning

In the 20 years since the advent of a democratic government in South Africa, planned expenditure on infrastructure projects by municipalities has been used in part to redress inequalities and socioeconomic distortions created by apartheid. Our purpose in this article is to assess the effectiveness of planning instruments to achieve desired transformation in the case of the eThekwini Municipality. We evaluated demographic, spatial regional economic, settlement hierarchy, accessibility and functional analysis indicators to assess the eThekwini Spatial Development Framework (SDF) as it applies to the city of Durban, making particular use of the National Population Census results for 2001 and 2011, municipal data on housing and settlement distribution, the municipal evaluation roll, the Industrial Land Study of 2014 and the Eskom household survey of 2009. These data sets were mapped using Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) GIS to analyse spatial changes over the decade from 2001 to 2011 to establish the ways and extent public investment guided by SDFs is responsive to spatial transformation imperatives. We found that, although there has been some economic and population growth, in-migration and densification of the inner city, there has been limited spatial transformation of the urban population, many communities still live in poverty, the traditional inequalities prevail and the benefits of democratic dispensation are elusive to many, despite substantial investment in infrastructure. Our analysis points to inadequacies of the planning tools and their application to spending public funds. Moreover, SDFs appear to be process and compliance-driven rather than inclusive of stakeholder concerns. We argue that they require substantial refinement to achieve the desired results.     

杭州市边缘区多功能土地利用规划战略与可持续影响评估研究:以西溪湿地为例

为了评估杭州边缘区多功能土地利用规划和相关政策实施效果,提高未来城市土地利用可持续规划战略和相关政策的效率,采用系统分析法和案例分析法,以西溪湿地为案例,对土地利用规划战略和相关政策的实施过程及其影响效果进行了评估,得出如下结论,可为未来城市化进程中制定和执行多功能土地利用可持续规划战略和相关政策提供借鉴与参考:1)在城市快速扩张的阶段,需要有效的发展战略以及空间规划引导和调控,如何保持上下层面规划、不同时期阶段规划的协调衔接问题是今后需要改善的重要方面;2)需要从功能定位、建设规模和合理空间形态方面强调边缘区与城市整体的关系;3)农田、生态空间保护与城市建设所需土地之间的矛盾在土地利用规划和决策过程中尤为突出;4)农民是城市化进程中受影响最大的群体,如何保护失地农民的权利和利益是规划者和决策者需要重点考虑的问题.     

Chieftaincy and sustainable urban land use planning in Yendi,Ghana: Towards congruence

In Ghana, chieftaincy institutions act as custodians for about 80% of the total land area, and are responsible for leasing or allocating land while official planning institutions determine and manage its use. Yet, the extent to which chieftaincy institutions impede or contribute to sustainable urban land use planning in Ghana has received limited research attention. The scholarship on urban land use planning in Ghana has instead focused largely on rapid urbanisation, limited personnel and logistical capacity of planning institutions, and mainstream political interference. This paper addresses this gap by examining the chieftaincy-land use planning nexus in the Yendi municipality, Ghana. It explores the extent to which chieftaincy institutions limit or support sustainable urban land use planning in the municipality. Household and physical surveys, expert interviews, telephone conversations, and document reviews were used. Findings indicate that while chieftaincy's role as custodian of land is central to land development, it has assumed the role of planning institutions in terms of land use determination and management. Negative perception of planning officials among residents has also overshadowed the visibility of professional planning practice in the municipality, contributing to poor land use planning. Residents continue to use chieftaincy institutions and other traditional approaches rather than formal planning agencies because the former is convenient, more effective, and yields rapid decisions. Further research is needed to explore whether land use planning under chieftaincy institutions leads to positive social and environmental outcomes.     

COMPENSATING FLOOD RETENTION ON PRIVATE LAND IN AUSTRIA: TOWARDS POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE IN FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT?

Flood retention, in particular controlled flood retention, plays an increasingly prominent role in the portfolio of flood risk management strategies. Though a highly effective measure to reduce the risk of flooding for vulnerable areas, flood retention is land-intensive and infringes on landowners’ property rights. Implementation efforts are thus often hampered by the lack of availability of land as well as by the growing demands of (agricultural) landowners for compensation of flood retention services. The proliferation of flood retention not only changes riparian land uses but also results in a shift of authority, power, and agency to lower levels of government as well as to non-governmental actors, including the private landowners who provide the land for flooding but also those who benefit from flood retention. By the example of a compensation scheme for the controlled flood retention in Altenmarkt, an alpine municipality in Austria, this paper explores these nascent forms of governance through the lens of polycentricity. Along five core propositions in polycentric theory, the paper evaluates the governance implications of flood retention compensation in Austria and discusses the possibilities and limitations of flood retention for enhancing landscape resilience in riparian areas.     

从“城市规划”到“城乡规划”的探索

2008年《城乡规划法》的实施,标志着我国正在打破建立在城乡二元结构上的规划管理制度,进入城乡统筹规划时代。分析了改革开放以来我国的城乡差异,提出了城乡统筹规划应建构从"城市规划"到"城乡规划"乃至"全域规划"的思路,规划的核心是城乡空间统筹布局,在经济发达而土地资源紧缺地区,则是以土地为载体的"三集中"。以霞浦居民点统筹规划为例,分析了城乡统筹规划的技术路径和规划内容。     

美国双城地区购物中心的发展与规划

明尼苏达州双城地区是美国中西部最大的都市区之一,购物中心的发展在这里有比较特殊的历史。本文介绍双城地区购物中心的发展历史与现状（包括购物中心的种类、分布和发展挑战）,并探讨了购物中心的规划。购物中心的规划与城市管治的模式关系密切。和美国很多其他都市区一样,双城地区的城市管治有着显著的分散化、分权化和自由化的特征。同时,都市区内各个城市之间彼此独立但又相互合作,有专门的组织（譬如大都市理事会）负责规划、协调都市区的整体发展。在研究购物中心的规划时,文章首先介绍购物中心的规划过程、规划的主要参与者及资金来源;然后分析了公众参与、城市发展规划（特别是土地利用规划和交通规划）和区域经济政策（特别是《财政分税法案》）对购物中心发展的影响。毫无疑问,购物中心对城市的发展也有重要影响。最后,文章还简要讨论了双城地区购物中心的发展对城市人口分布以及城市交通发展的影响。     

Devolution since Kilbrandon and Scenarios for the Future of Spatial Planning in the United Kingdom and European Union

The UK has recently made a significant shift away from its longstanding profile as the classical unitary state within European planning systems, and moved closer to the regionalized unitary state model. The paper examines the new planning system of the UK and alternative scenarios for the future direction of spatial planning in the UK, with particular reference to regional governance. The paper looks at the lessons that might be learnt for the future from the past Kilbrandon Report on the Constitution. The future direction of spatial planning and multi-level governance for the UK is considered within the context of the European dimension. The paper reviews typologies of spatial planning for both the current Member countries of the EU and the ten Central and East European applicant countries. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the rapid pace of change achieved in recent years, some uncertainty over future changes that might be expected, and the need to address issues arising from an enlarged EU.     

Land‐use planning in ‘one country,two systems’: Hong Kong,Guangzhou and Shenzhen

This paper studies the political economy of urban governance and land‐use planning mechanisms in the ‘one country, two systems’ of mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). It is argued that the market economy of Hong Kong had, over the years as a British colony, established an efficiently‐run regulatory system of land‐use planning. The current land‐use planning mechanisms are biased toward economic growth as a result of its executive‐government‐led and business‐interests‐dominated political structure. The challenge for Hong Kong as a relatively autonomous SAR, therefore, is to incorporate the social and environmental dimensions in planning for territorial development within a wider regional context as a result of economic and political integration with China. In mainland China, the reforming socialist planned economy has now embraced privately and foreign‐owned enterprises though the Communist Party and the government have retained strong political control. A ‘dual’ land‐use development system operates under an economic‐growth‐oriented development strategy. On one hand, government authorities who are land owners, land managers, and the largest land users as they own most of the economic enterprises, may not, for various reasons, follow the planning intentions when formally allocating land for development projects. On the other hand, illegal construction and land uses are widespread, suggesting that the formal land‐use planning system is ineffective, if not irrelevant, in controlling development. Part of the explanation lies in the absence of a genuine land market where legitimate persons with land‐use rights can buy and sell land within a planning framework generally agreed by the community. Unless Chinese cities strive to establish formal land‐use planning processes to prepare plans with the participation of various actors to reflect their needs, and establish urban planning mechanisms that have teeth in controlling development, urban planning will continue to be marginal in local governance.     

Urban Land Market in Ghana: A Study of the Wa Municipality

This paper examines the land market in Ghana using the Wa municipality as a study area, an urban land market that is largely underdeveloped. The study employed questionnaires to collect data on how the land market in the municipality functions. It was found that this land market basically comprises undeveloped land and most of the land units are located in areas without basic infrastructure or services. Furthermore, customary land is efficiently allocated to competing uses and users. However, the market is bedevilled with problems such as multiple land sales and boundary disputes as a result of the unavailability of documentation on land transactions in the municipality. It suggests that state policy interventions, and not the institutional bureaucracy of land management, are required to address the inherent market problems.     

Auckland: Rescaled governance and post-suburban politics

The nature and politics of urban development in Auckland have undergone rapid transformation following amalgamation of eight separate authorities in 2010. Institutions governing metropolitan planning and infrastructure provision were rescaled to form the Auckland ‘Super City’ Council in 2010, with an ambitious vision to become the world's most liveable city and ongoing political contestation between the local and central government. Amalgamation of Auckland's governance was conceived and imposed by the central government as part of a broader economic strategy for “competitive cities”. However, Auckland Council's first strategic plan adopted a contrasting agenda, centred around the goal of “liveability”. Auckland's recent developments illustrate the challenges of a distinctly post-suburban polity. The majority of employment is located in suburban areas and the city has variegated and overlapping patterns in spatial form generated through inconsistent infrastructure interventions across local and national authorities. Conflicting urban policy agenda at national and local scales shows a tension between the pursuit of economic development and provision for collective needs. The politics of post-suburban development create specific challenges for Auckland's governance. Liveability and economic competitiveness are treated as complementary terms in political rhetoric, however trade-offs emerge at a smaller spatial scales. Public concern over housing affordability and risks to the financial stability of New Zealand's economy have led to central government intervention and renegotiation of authority between different tiers of government for land use and infrastructure provision. Auckland's position as New Zealand's largest city and economic centre frequently blurs the distinction between issues of local and national significance. Auckland's governance challenges are not unique, however the current tensions are exacerbated by its dominance in a small and geographically-isolated nation.     

Reconceptualising territoriality and spatial planning: insights from the sea

The concept of territoriality and its relationship to the focus and substance of spatial planning is the subject of much interest at the present time and this paper seeks to contribute to the debate by stepping into the sea. The first part of the paper establishes a framework for considering the spatial planning implications of changing conceptions of territoriality, outlining key sources of territorial innovation and their implications in terms of the development of new units and styles of governance, new challenges for planning practice, and the potential for feedback informing the development of planning theory. The application of the framework is then illustrated in the second part of the paper with reference to the emerging field of maritime spatial planning and in particular to the pioneering work that is being undertaken in Europe. This work is testing established notions of territoriality by highlighting the strong and growing connections between the land and the sea. Here some of the key implications for future spatial planning practice are identified. These indicate that there is a growing recognition of the need for innovation in the territorial units of governance in maritime regions and in the themes, processes and methods of spatial planning in these areas. The paper concludes with some observations on the implications of these findings for the theory of spatial planning.     

沿海地区应对气候变化和人口快速增长的韧性土地利用规划——以美国佛罗里达州马坦萨斯河流域为例

气候变化引起的海平面上升以及人口快速增长引起的土地利用变化为新时期全球沿海低洼地区的土地利用规划带来了新的挑战。有别于传统的土地利用规划理念与方法，引入韧性城市的概念，以美国佛罗里达州马坦萨斯河入海口地区应对气候变化和人口快速增长的韧性土地利用规划为例，通过构建基于地理信息系统的综合模型，整合海平面上升影响模型、物种栖息地模型和土地利用预测模型来预测适应海平面上升的土地利用规划方案。研究的结果可为中国沿海地区特别是三角洲地区应对气候变化提供借鉴。     

发达地区存量建设用地减量化治理研究--一个新的空间治理分析框架

在生态文明建设和新型城镇化背景下,发达地区土地利用模式出现了从增量扩张向存量用地减量化的新趋势。作为一种新的空间治理,如何从理论上解析减量化的本质和运作逻辑,在实践上对减量化治理进展、特征和模式进行梳理是本研究的重点。研究借鉴法团主义和控制权理论,试图提出“法团主义一控制权一土地利益重构”的分析框架。通过对宏观治理结构与微观政府内部权威运作机制的研究,弥补传统空间治理研究中对政府内部权威关系与政府行为逻辑研究的不足,对减量化过程中多元主体的土地利益重构进行了剖析。选择上海市T区为实证案例,发现存在三种典型的减量化治理模式;减量化导致镇际发展差距扩大;远郊区的村集体和农民成为最大的“输家”。     

上海节约集约土地资源的生态思考

上海作为特大城市,人地矛盾突出,生态空间紧缺,环境容量有限,如何将生态安全理念与土地使用规划相结合,探索节约集约土地资源的规划思路,是上海贯彻城乡统筹实现城市可持续发展的重要命题.以上海为例,从生态视角对土地作为一种生态资源进行分析,审视以往土地使用规划的传统观念,确立城乡统筹背景下紧凑发展的规划模式;提出上海城乡一体化要从注重对城镇规模的关注转向对生态环境资源的保护,引导城市在空间选择上将有限的土地资源集中到城市化的重点区域和城市生态空间.     

Regulatory Frameworks for Place-based Planning

This paper examines the application of concepts of place, locality and constructions of place identities as frameworks for place-based regulatory planning instruments to control development across whole local government areas. New approaches to achieving single-level, place-integrated planning documents in NSW are summarised that move away from the traditional format of land use zones. This will require a more place-focused governance to act as a strategic relational arena in existing localities.     

Regulatory Frameworks for Place-based Planning

This paper examines the application of concepts of place, locality and constructions of place identities as frameworks for place-based regulatory planning instruments to control development across whole local government areas. New approaches to achieving single-level, place-integrated planning documents in NSW are summarised that move away from the traditional format of land use zones. This will require a more place-focused governance to act as a strategic relational arena in existing localities.     

荷兰空间规划中的韧性理念及其启示

作为一种战略性、基础性的规划手段,空间规划可以通过影响城市结构或土地利用等降低城市面对的多重风险及影响。传统规划对于空间如何应对变化、冲击及不确定性的关注有待提高,"韧性理念"在规划中的引入为协调城市发展目标和城市安全底线提供了一个新的视角。荷兰空间规划在应对气候变化、环境挑战和灾害风险方面取得了较大的成绩,本文结合荷兰空间规划实践,探讨空间规划政策中的韧性理念和特征,以及如何通过规划应对风险和挑战。研究表明,虽然不是所有的韧性特征均能在荷兰空间规划中得到体现,但韧性理念始终贯穿于各级空间规划,且不同层级空间规划所关注的韧性侧重点不同。在研究基础上,建议将韧性理念应用于我国空间规划,为我国在生态文明建设与安全发展背景下完善和优化空间规划提供思考与借鉴。