Lawrence W. C Lai

This accessibly written textbook provides a clear and systematic introduction to the fundamental principles of town planning, applied within the context of the common-law land market. Using an innovative structure of key propositions, sections cover basic definitions and concepts of urban planning, physical planning principles and applications, development control, and policy issues relating to human settlement and property values. Informed by foundational concepts of property rights and cadastral boundaries, the book also covers sustainable urban development and renewal. Key Features:Each chapter includes concise propositions on planning principles, chapter summaries and discussion questions to facilitate learning. A clear account of fundamental town planning concepts and their applications in terms of property rights, land markets, and basic urban development. With a strong focus on practice rather than theory, the book is underpinned by Ronald Coase’s neo-institutional economic concepts on the allocation of resources in town planning. This is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of town planning, urban development and surveying. It will also be beneficial for the professional development of practitioners and town planners who want to expand their knowledge of the key concepts in the field.

This accessibly written textbook provides a clear and systematic introduction to the fundamental principles of town planning, applied within the context of the common-law land market. Using an innovative structure of key propositions, sections cover basic definitions and concepts of urban planning, physical planning principles and applications, development control, and policy issues relating to human settlement and property values. Informed by foundational concepts of property rights and cadastral boundaries, the book also covers sustainable urban development and renewal. Key Features:Each chapter includes concise propositions on planning principles, chapter summaries and discussion questions to facilitate learning. A clear account of fundamental town planning concepts and their applications in terms of property rights, land markets, and basic urban development. With a strong focus on practice rather than theory, the book is underpinned by Ronald Coase’s neo-institutional economic concepts on the allocation of resources in town planning. This is an invaluable textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of town planning, urban development and surveying. It will also be beneficial for the professional development of practitioners and town planners who want to expand their knowledge of the key concepts in the field.

This book is the first work dedicated to the key ideas of Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase on pollution and public goods with sustainable development in mind from the perspective of an economist-town planner. The seminal contributions of Ronald Coase, foretold in the form of the Coase Theorem by another Nobel laureate, George Stigler, have been much analyzed and often misinterpreted by friends and foes alike. In this book, Lawrence Lai attempts to revisit Coase's seminal works and bring to the fore their importance in economic and urban planning policy analysis. Coase's comparative institutional approach offers an important vehicle for the analysis of pressing social issues such as sustainable development, and all those interested in the creation of new platforms for performing policy analysis will welcome this important work.

This book is the first work dedicated to the key ideas of Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase on pollution and public goods with sustainable development in mind from the perspective of an economist-town planner. The seminal contributions of Ronald Coase, foretold in the form of the Coase Theorem by another Nobel laureate, George Stigler, have been much analyzed and often misinterpreted by friends and foes alike. In this book, Lawrence Lai attempts to revisit Coase's seminal works and bring to the fore their importance in economic and urban planning policy analysis. Coase's comparative institutional approach offers an important vehicle for the analysis of pressing social issues such as sustainable development, and all those interested in the creation of new platforms for performing policy analysis will welcome this important work.

This book represents a major innovation in the institutional analysis of cities and their planning, management and governance. Using concepts of transaction costs and property rights, the work shows systematically how urban order evolves as individuals co-operate in cities for mutual gain. Five kinds of urban order are examined, arising as co-operating individuals seek to reduce the costs of transacting with each other. These are organisational order (combinations of property rights), institutional order (rules and sanctions), proprietary order (fragmentation of property rights), spatial order and public domain order. Property Rights, Planning and Markets also offers an institutional interpretation of urban planning and management that challenges both the view that planning inevitably conflicts with freedom of contract and the view that its function is a means of correcting market failures. Real life examples from countries and regions around the world are used to illustrate the universal relevance of theoretical generalisations, which will be welcomed by a new generation of policymakers and students who take on a world view that goes beyond national boundaries.

This book represents a major innovation in the institutional analysis of cities and their planning, management and governance. Using concepts of transaction costs and property rights, the work shows systematically how urban order evolves as individuals co-operate in cities for mutual gain. Five kinds of urban order are examined, arising as co-operating individuals seek to reduce the costs of transacting with each other. These are organisational order (combinations of property rights), institutional order (rules and sanctions), proprietary order (fragmentation of property rights), spatial order and public domain order. Property Rights, Planning and Markets also offers an institutional interpretation of urban planning and management that challenges both the view that planning inevitably conflicts with freedom of contract and the view that its function is a means of correcting market failures. Real life examples from countries and regions around the world are used to illustrate the universal relevance of theoretical generalisations, which will be welcomed by a new generation of policymakers and students who take on a world view that goes beyond national boundaries.