Land Use Regulation

Land Use Regulation is well worth reading and should be of interest and value to teachers of land use and urban analysis, planning practitioners, public officials involved in land use planning, citizen groups, and concerned individuals.

Shirley F. Weiss, Professor of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Since the early 1960s land use issues have become increasingly important in American society. Suburban communities have found themselves in the path of urban growth or have felt rapid growth pressure from within. How policy can be developed to cope with mounting land use problems, and the role that regulation has in this policy, is the topic of this unique new volume. Land Use Regulation offers both students and planners an interdisciplinary analysis of land use involving economics, public policy, and court rulings. It discusses how the implementation of land use policies, which are supported by economic theory, occurs through the political process which, in turn, is guided by the judiciary. Garrett challenges the widely held view in favor of a free market approach to land use. Because of the problems that rapid growth impose on a local governing body and the conflicts that arise between citizens, the governing body, and landlord-developers, Garrett asserts that optimal land use can best be achieved through a combination of the free market and careful planning.

MARTIN A. GARRETT, JR., is Professor of Economics at the College of William and Mary.