In an age of increasing urbanization, rural communities and agricultural lifestyles are quickly disappearing. Many local, pastoral histories have been buried under the new narratives of modern suburban development. Do such places, located along the rural-urban fringe, contain accounts worth memorializing? This thesis is a case study of the Ancaster Meadowlands—a growing neighbourhood within the City of Hamilton, Ontario. It explores the process of suburban growth and uncovers the local history of a landscape. As a narrative, the study traces land-use change over time, displaying the area’s evolution from a site of Neolithic settlement, to an important Loyalist village, and finally to a large suburban neighbourhood with commercial and residential components. Three principal methods are employed: resident interviewing, key informant interviewing, and archival research. Themes elicited in this study include land-use conflict, NIMBYism, real-estate volatility, and the interconnectedness of politicians and developers. Given that there are few case studies of contemporary suburban development, this study provides a rare illustration of the multi-faceted process of expansion around a Canadian city while also supplying a historical account of local importance. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The municipalities in Sweden can use the PBL-legislation to request a land developer to fund new public infrastructure in the dwelling area where the developer are active. The municipality have had two options to choose between. To purchase a contract with an entrepreneur that build the infrastructure paid by the developer, or let the developer both build and pay the infrastructure. The La Scala-judgment came 2001 from the EG-tribunal. This judgment have by many people been interpreted as that as public infrastructure in Sweden should be purchased by the municipalities through LOU. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to discuss how the land development process has changed and which problems that have arisen since 2010, when it became customary that the municipality should procure public streets and sewage facilities under the Swedish Public Procurement Act (“LOU”). The purpose is also to discuss if this way to proceed satisfies the purpose of LOU and also discuss if their can be any alternative interpretations of the La Scalajudgment than have been done so far for Swedish conditions. The questions that became a consequence of the purpose where answered as follow in the report: Changes Today, the general rule is that the municipality is to purchase all public streets itself in the land development process. This rule has replaced the freedom of choosing whether to do so, that previously existed. Necessary land transfers take place today at an early stage of the process, often when the zoning plan becomes valid, as compared to before when it took place late in the land development process. Problems Some problems have arisen in cases when the municipality procures. This leads to the conclusion that the land development process today has become more risky, significantly more expensive, and that it takes longer time before the houses are ready for occupants to move in to, than previously was the case. To what extent does this new procedure implement LOU’s purpose? LOU's purpose, to get an effectively use of tax money, is not fulfilled by this procedure because the municipalities do not have any expenditures, which means that there are no funds which can be considered “effectively used”. As the municipality has no cost, it is questionable whether it really is to the municipality that an entrepreneur sells his services, rather than to the land developer paying for the services. Overall, this means that the purpose is probably not fulfilled by this new procedure. In what situations can the LOU procedure be questioned? The consequences of LOU can be questioned where it leads to major problems that would not occur if the legislation was more flexible. An example of this is when there is a lone land developer, who builds on his own property. If the municipality procures this, as happens today, problems arise in terms of money, time and coordination problems. This because it is more efficient if the developer that are already active in the area build all necessary infrastructure. Can any other interpretations of the La Scala-judgment and it´s relationship to the Swedish development process be found? One alternative interpret is that the municipal should use LOU on this kind of contracts when there is a risk that the municipal lose financial resources if they don´t do it. In the Italian development process there is always a risk that the municipal lose financial resources if they don´t purchase the contracts. The Swedish land development legislation are structured so the municipality never take a risk to lose financial recourses if they let the developer build everything in the area and therefore the municipality never can lose financial recourses in these cases. The Swedish municipalities don’t get any advantages if they use LOU here because the developer pays the real cost for all parts of the contract. Therefore, LOU is irrelevant in this part of the development process

This study offers two cost analyses to inform public policy decisions on the use of land and water resources. The first presents some public service costs associated with different spatial forms of land development. The second cost analysis presents costs associated with three different policy options for meeting water quality goals in Long Island Sound. The objective the first analysis is to determine the cost to local governments of providing water distribution and wastewater collection services to alternative spatial forms of residential development. Components of spatial form are explicitly defined in terms of lot size, distance and tract dispersion. An engineering cost model is used to determine the water and sewer costs to three sets of hypothetical land settlement scenarios. Each set shows the effect of one component of spatial form on cost. The results show that smaller lots, shorter distances between existing centers and less tract dispersion reduce public water and sewer costs. Lot size is found to have the most pronounced effect on water and sewer cost. Some policy options for reducing the public service costs associated with development are considered. The objective of the second cost analysis is to analyze the cost implications of a nitrogen allowance trading system for wastewater treatment plants in Connecticut. Effluent allowance trading involves the transfer of pollution control responsibility between pollution sources. Effluent allowances are the right to discharge a given quantity of waste into the environment over a given time period. Allowance trading has been proposed as a way of reducing pollution control costs, encouraging innovative pollution prevention techniques and more quickly achieving water quality goals. Long Island Sound, a major estuary in the northeastern United States, experiences chronically low dissolved oxygen levels. Excessive nitrogen loads from anthropogenic activities in the Sound watershed have been identified as the cause of the oxygen problem. The state of Connecticut is examining the possibility of introducing an effluent allowance trading system in order to reduce the cost of achieving required reductions in nitrogen discharge. A linear programming model is used to predict trading outcomes and allowance prices. The total cost of achieving a nitrogen load cap is calculated under three administrative approaches. The first approach is a uniform reduction requirement where all plants are required to reduce discharge by the same proportion. The second approach is an administrative reallocation of waste load where a regulatory agency assigns control responsibility based on the agency's understanding of relative costs. The third approach is a flexible effluent allowance trading system. The results will show that a trading program offers cost savings over traditional regulatory approaches, demonstrate the potential for further cost savings from pollution prevention activities and estimate the cost savings that would result from including nonpoint sources in the overall nitrogen reduction strategy. / Master of Science

Inspired by the recent rise in interest surrounding the Sharing Economy, this report seeks to provide insight into the potential for sharing in cities. I focus my attention on land; as one of the scarcest resources in urban areas land holds some of the greatest potential for sharing. I strive to develop an awareness of the challenges against and opportunities for shareable approaches to land use and development of city-owned land. Through interviews and archival research I explore a variety of projects, programs and initiatives in Austin, TX and San Francisco, CA. Based on my findings I provide suggestions for the City of Austin in developing a more shareable approach to land use and development. / text

Since the dawn of industrialization, many authoritarian regimes have taken on massive public works projects which seem impressive or farfetched. Few onlookers are surprised when these projects are not completed or are completed at such a high cost that they appear to be an exercise in futility. Usually these failures are written off as dictatorial incompetence and overambition, but the initial motivations for beginning them are rarely addressed. This paper will argue that, rather than being a symptom of precipitant development or front for embezzlement, many of these projects were designed to fail because the regime received the largest benefit by starting them—not by completing them. Empirically this research will focus on the Toshka ‘New River Valley’ project in Egypt, which is Egypt’s largest development project and is designed to create a second Nile River Valley in the South and eventually be home to 20% of the Egypt’s population. In this report I explore the governments’ motivations, their intentions, the resulting symbolism and the repercussions of the Toshka project. / text

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Year of submission on cover: 1997. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 87-90).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 76-79).

No description available.

The private companies are to a large extent accountable for the residential construction. Plan monopoly means however that it is the municipality that determine land use. This can lead to uncertainty among the companies, which could mean inertia in the development of housing. Furthermore is this problematic because there already is a shortage of housing in Sweden. This thesis aims to explain companies’ thoughts when choosing land to purchase based on current zoning plan and ownership. Representatives from different companies were interviewed in order to clarify their thoughts. When investigating ownership this work has focused on whether the owner is municipal or private. The interviewed have been asked if they prefer acquiring land with a finished plan or land in the early stages of planning. Furthermore participation in the development of zoning has been treated. In these respects, a comparison between large, medium and small companies has been made. The result of the study show that the small companies focus on land with zoning plan and owned by the municipally. The medium and large companies prefer land that is not yet planned and the owner of the land varied. Acquisition of land is a complex process that is influenced by a variety of factors. It is therefore difficult to determine how much a specific factor affects the choice of land to purchase. The study has shown that the municipality's work procedure and in which municipality the land is located greatly affects the choice. / Idag ansvarar främst privata aktörer för bostadsbyggandet. Planmonopolet innebär emellertid att det är kommunen som bestämmer markanvändningen, vilket kan leda till osäkerhet hos aktörerna och innebära en tröghet i framtagandet av bostäder. Detta är problematiskt då det redan finns en bostadsbrist i Sverige. Examensarbetet syftar till att redogöra aktörers tankar vid markförvärv för bostadsbyggande, baserat på rådande detaljplaneförhållande och ägarförhållande. Representanter från byggbolag har intervjuats för att redogöra detta. Vad gäller ägarförhållande har detta arbete fokuserat på om aktörerna inriktar sig på kommunal eller privatägd mark. Företagsrepresentanterna har fått besvara frågan om bolagen förvärvar mark med en färdig detaljplan eller om de hellre köper mark i ett tidigt skede av planläggningen. Även deltagandet i framtagningen av detaljplan har behandlats. I dessa hänseenden har en jämförelse mellan stora, medelstora och små företag gjorts. Studiens resultat visar att de små aktörerna i större utsträckning köper mark som redan är detaljplanelagd och kommunalt ägd. Hos de stora och medelstora var det en stor spridning på vilket ägandeförhållande som rådde och den mest attraktiva marken, utvecklingsmässigt, var den som ej var detaljplanelagd än. Förvärv av mark är en komplex process som påverkas av en mängd olika faktorer. Det är därför svårt att fastställa hur mycket en specifik faktor påverkar val av mark. I studien har det visat sig att hur kommunen väljer att sälja marken samt i vilken kommun marken ligger i påverkar detta val i hög grad.

Since the financial crisis in 2008 housing prices in the greater Stockholm region have beenrising by an average of 8 percent per year and therefor municipalities, developers andbuyers of new production housing have been able to make high profit. This has lead to astrong optimism and a high risk propensity among several parties. Since august 2017 thehousing market have turned and housing prices have declined. The reasons are believed tobe an overproduction of expensive new housing, media’s negative view on the newproduction market and tightened amortization requirements. The immediate effect was a biguncertainty regarding the market for new housing and cautious residential consumers. Thehousing developers reports low sales the first quarter of 2018 and some developers areforced to return land allocations to the municipalities.This degree project aims to describe the risk that occurs in the process of developing newhousing. It will be done through a qualitative interview study which aims to closer examinethe municipalities and developers view on the housing market, the risks that occur in thedeveloping process and their risk management strategies. The purpose of the report is alsoto identify the risks that are imposed on buyers of new housing, which is done throughinterviews with developers and new production brokers.The study shows that developers and municipalities are facing a difficult time when it comesto making agreements in today's uncertain housing market and the distrust between theparties can be derived from adverse selection. Due to the development monopoly manymunicipalities benefits a strong negotiation position. At the same time the participatingmunicipalities are in a difficult situation due to their agreement with the state and theStockholm County Council regarding 64 000 new homes by the year of 2030.The degree project emphasizes the possibility that by adjusting an existing price indexformula, land prices will be more closely linked to housing prices. The purpose of thisformula in a market fall is to allow a larger proportion of housing prices to be deducted fromthe land price for the developers and that in a market upturn the municipality will be able totake a larger cut of the higher housing prices. The ambition is that this will facilitatenegotiations between the municipality and the developer and make the developers moreresistant in a changing new production market. / Since the financial crisis in 2008 housing prices in the greater Stockholm region have beenrising by an average of 8 percent per year and therefor municipalities, developers andbuyers of new production housing have been able to make high profit. This has lead to astrong optimism and a high risk propensity among several parties. Since august 2017 thehousing market have turned and housing prices have declined. The reasons are believed tobe an overproduction of expensive new housing, media’s negative view on the newproduction market and tightened amortization requirements. The immediate effect was a biguncertainty regarding the market for new housing and cautious residential consumers. Thehousing developers reports low sales the first quarter of 2018 and some developers areforced to return land allocations to the municipalities.This degree project aims to describe the risk that occurs in the process of developing newhousing. It will be done through a qualitative interview study which aims to closer examinethe municipalities and developers view on the housing market, the risks that occur in thedeveloping process and their risk management strategies. The purpose of the report is alsoto identify the risks that are imposed on buyers of new housing, which is done throughinterviews with developers and new production brokers.The study shows that developers and municipalities are facing a difficult time when it comesto making agreements in today's uncertain housing market and the distrust between theparties can be derived from adverse selection. Due to the development monopoly manymunicipalities benefits a strong negotiation position. At the same time the participatingmunicipalities are in a difficult situation due to their agreement with the state and theStockholm County Council regarding 64 000 new homes by the year of 2030.The degree project emphasizes the possibility that by adjusting an existing price indexformula, land prices will be more closely linked to housing prices. The purpose of thisformula in a market fall is to allow a larger proportion of housing prices to be deducted fromthe land price for the developers and that in a market upturn the municipality will be able totake a larger cut of the higher housing prices. The ambition is that this will facilitatenegotiations between the municipality and the developer and make the developers moreresistant in a changing new production market.