Optimizing Land Development: Trends and Best Practices

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue entitled “Optimizing Land Development: Trends and Best Practices”. Recognizing the critical role of land development in shaping our environment, this Special Issue aims to shed light on contemporary trends and best practices in optimizing land use. While land development issues have been a fundamental field in human spatial activity, there is a growing need to explore how various human–environment dynamics intersect with and influence development. This Special Issue seeks contributions that bridge the gap between changing optimization strategies and evolving land uses. We welcome empirical research and conceptual/theoretical works that delve into key processes, such as:

• land/land-use/land-cover change;
• land management, including agriculture, forestry, the built environment, and others;
• landscapes, landscape design, and landscape planning;
• urban contexts, urban–rural interactions, and urban planning and development.

Contributions at the intersection of land use science and related disciplines are particularly encouraged. However, we welcome submissions from diverse human–environment fields that emphasize the fundamental role of human activities in optimizing land development. We encourage diversity in contributions to capture the nuanced complexities of land development across different contexts.

Join us in exploring the intricate connections between changing livelihood strategies and the optimization of land development. Your insights will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of contemporary trends and best practices in this dynamic field.

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Marek Walacik
Dr. Aneta Chmielewska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• land development
• optimization strategies
• land use dynamics
• human–environment dynamics
• contemporary trends
• best practices
• land/land-use/land-cover change
• land management

Title: The UK – A Century of failing (and sometimes succeeding) at value capture
Authors: Richard Grover
Affiliation: Oxford Brookes University
Abstract: This paper considers why it appears to be so difficult to formulate and execute policies aimed at achieving value capture. It does through by examining the policies for value capture pursued by the UK since 1909, when the finance act of that year was strongly influenced by the work of Henry George. At first sight, the UK ought to be an ideal country in which to implement value capture policies. There is an efficient system of land registration and a strictly enforced town planning and development control system so that informal transfers and development does not take place. It raises one of the highest proportions of Gross Domestic Product of any country in the form of recurrent taxes on property so generating tax revenues from property does not appear to be an issue. It has one of the most efficient property markets and a well-established system of property valuation. Reliable transaction price data is generally available. Yet many of the attempts at value capture have ended in failure. Ny contrast, other policies, for which value capture has not been an objective, have proved to be surprising adept at achieving this. The failings cannot be put down to the type of weaknesses that many countries experience, such as the failure to control informal development, informal property transfers, or a poorly developed system of property valuations. Analysis shows that there were significant technical problems with some of the policies adopted, principally as a result of complex legal and regulatory drafting. But, a recurrent theme has been lack of political consensus, which has undermined a number of the policy attempts with changes of government leading to the repeal of initiatives. Those policies that have turned out to be most effective are ones that have been least subject to political conflict.