"Privatizing" Urban Planning: An Examination of the Role of Transferable Development Rights in Flanders from a Comparative Perspective.

In the Flemish debate on urban planning policy, Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) have recently been suggested as a possible solution for urban planning problems. The underlying principle of TDRs is relatively simple: property rights and development rights of real-estate are being separated and a market for development rights is created. Those development rights can then be traded and transferred to other real-estate owners or developers. Typically a distinction is made between the places where a community would like to see less development, the so-called sending areas, to places where a community would like to see more development, the receiving areas. The sending areas are generally areas where the government would like to achieve certain public policy objectives, such as safeguarding open space or preserving the environment or the rural or historical nature. Although the concept is not new (origins in the US beginning of the 20th Century) and a strong interest exists in Flanders to explore the utility of TDRs, no systematic academic literature or policy studies have been carried out to examine whether TDRs would actually fit within the Flemish/Belgian legal framework or whether this would require a modification of the legal framework. The proposed research project aims at filling this gap by examining to what extent it is necessary and feasible to introduce TDRs into the legal framework to respond to the identified needs and problems of contemporary urban planning.

Keywords:URBAN SPACE, COMPARATIVE LAW, URBANIZATION, URBAN PLANNING

Disciplines:Urban and regional design, development and planning, Law