17.2. Land Value Capture

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

In creating funding mechanisms for the Public Space System, and accomplishing the other important goals of Urban Regeneration and other improvements, it is necessary to reform the taxation system, among other systemic reforms.


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Problem-statement: Land and other resources represent shared assets within our commonwealth. We need to maximize their efficient use and productivity by capturing value from their use, not by capturing value gained from the creativity with which they are put to use.


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Discussion: There are two separate but related ideas in the notion of land value capture.


One is the idea that at least some of the growth in value of improvements on land needs to be captured so that it can be redirected to public benefit, including the benefit to the public of the improvement itself. For example, a private shop offering services to the public might require public infrastructure before it can be developed. In turn, the private business can pay tax on the land to help to pay back the public debt on the infrastructure.


The other idea is that land itself is a “commons” — a shared resource — that is limited, and the community has an interest in maximizing its capacity to benefit the community economically and culturally. Therefore, we ought to reward those who use such resources sparingly and creatively, over those who use them wastefully.


Both ideas incorporate the tool of land value taxation (among other strategies) to focus on the taxation of the resource, not its creative improvements, as a way of providing relative reward for the efficient use of resources.


Unfortunately, too often the opposite approach is taken, and taxation is made on “improvements” with only a low residual taxation on land (if any). That creates a disincentive to use land and other resources efficiently.


The first major proponent of land value tax was the 19th century economist Henry George. In his landmark book Progress and Poverty (1879), he argued that economic rent of land was a more desirable source of tax revenue, more able to incentivize so-called “progressive” goals. (This and related work inspired the Progressive movement of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.) The book also significantly influenced land taxation policy in the United States and other countries, including Denmark, where ‘grundskyld’ (Ground Duty) became a major component of its taxation. The principle that natural resource rents should be captured by society is now often known as Georgism.¹


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Therefore:

Implement a land-value tax, carefully coordinated with other taxes to create a maximum incentive to conserve land and other resources, and to maximize urban benefits per unit of urban land.


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Use land value tax to fund a Neighborhood Planning Center and other community resources for better-quality urban development. Create exceptions or rebates for affordable housing projects, and projects that utilize the Community Land Trust. …




¹ There is a great deal of research literature available on land value capture mechanisms, including land value taxation. See for example Batt, H. W. (2001). Value capture as a policy tool in transportation economics: an exploration in public finance in the tradition of Henry George. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 60(1), 195-228.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). LAND VALUE CAPTURE (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Land_Value_Capture



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA