Urban structures and land. The Morphological effects of dealing with property Rights

Urban regeneration is an increasingly important but complex business. One factor that is widely recognised as adding to the complexity is the fragmentation of landownership. However, not only does this affect the process, it also reveals itself in the outcome of urban regeneration-the urban morphology. Property rights theory helps to conceptualise this relationship. On the basis of this and two empirical cases, this paper demonstrates that the assignment of bundles of property rights over land, the delineation of the right use land and the value of land are intimately linked. These links affect the urban morphology both directly and indirectly. A direct effect of property rights structures is the incorporation of existing land uses in new development schemes. Indirect effects are the physical measures, such as increased densities and less public space, which are taken to compensate for the financial deficits that are caused by high land acquisition costs.