Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:13:47.130Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Farmland Preservation and Residential Density: Can Development Rights Markets Affect Land Use?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Virginia McConnell ,
Elizabeth Kopits  and
Margaret Walls
Virginia McConnell
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future
Elizabeth Kopits
Affiliation:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Margaret Walls
Affiliation:
Resources for the Future
Get access

Abstract

This paper examines transferable development rights (TDRs) policies as a way to preserve farmland and change the density of development. Characteristics of TDR markets are described, including why they might promote efficiency, and the difficulties that arise in implementing them. Evidence from an established TDR program in Calvert County, Maryland, is used to assess the potential for TDRs to influence subdivision density, and to achieve local land preservation goals. The Calvert program has succeeded in creating an active and stable TDR market, and has therefore preserved a large amount of farmland in the region. But we find that the demand for additional density permitted with TDRs occurs mostly in rural areas and not in the higher density town centers and residential areas.

Keywords

land preservationdevelopmentmarketsdensity
Type
Invited Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , October 2005 , pp. 131 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brueckner, J.K. 2000. “Urban Sprawl: Diagnosis and Remedies.” International Regional Science Review 23(2): 160–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvert County Comprehensive Plan. 2004. “2004 Comprehensive Plan, Calvert County, Maryland.” Available at http://www.co.cal.md.us/residents/building/planning/documents/compplan/default.asp (accessed 10/1/05).Google Scholar
Cannaday, R.E., and Colwell, P.F. 1990. “Optimization of Subdivision Development.” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 3(2): 195–206.Google Scholar
Daniels, T.L. 1997. “Where Does Cluster Zoning Fit in Farmland Protection?” Journal of the American Planning Association 63(1): 129–137.Google Scholar
Ellerman, D.A., Joskow, P.L., Schmalensee, R., Montero, J.-P., and Bailey, E.M. 2000. Markets for Clean Air: The U.S. Acid Rain Program. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, B.C., and Conrad, J.M. 1975. “Economic Issues in Programs of Transferable Development Rights.” Land Economics 1(4): 331–340.Google Scholar
Fischel, W. 1987. The Economics of Zoning Laws. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Glaeser, E.L., and Kahn, M.E. 2004. “Sprawl and Urban Growth.” In Henderson, V. and Francois, J., eds., Handbook of Urban and Regional Economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Hahn, R. 1984. “Market Power and Transferable Property Rights.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 99(4): 753–765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heimlich, R., and Anderson, W. 2001. “Development at the Urban Fringe and Beyond: Impacts on Agriculture and Rural Land.” Agricultural Report No. 803, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Kopits, E., McConnell, V., and Walls, M. 2005. “Making Markets for Development Rights Work: What Determines Demand?” Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 05–45, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
LaGro, J.A. 1996. “Designing Without Nature: Unsewered Residential Development in Rural Wisconsin.” Landscape and Urban Planning 35(1): 1–9.Google Scholar
Levinson, A. 1997. “Why Oppose TDRs? Transferable Development Rights Can Increase Overall Development.” Regional Science and Urban Economics 27(3): 286–296.Google Scholar
Lynch, L., and Lovell, S.J. 2003. “Combining Spatial and Survey Data to Explain Participation in Agricultural Land Preservation Programs.” Land Economics 79(2): 259–276.Google Scholar
McConnell, V., Kopits, E., and Walls, M. 2003. “How Well Can Markets for Development Rights Work? Evaluating a Farmland Preservation Program.” Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 03-08, Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C. Available at http://www.rff.org/Docu[-]ments/RFF-DP-03-08.pdf (accessed 10/1/05).Google Scholar
McConnell, V., and Walls, M. 2005. “The Value of Open Space: Evidence from Studies of Nonmarket Benefits.” Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
McMillen, D., and McDonald, J.F. 1991. “Urban Land Value Functions with Endogenous Zoning.” Journal of Urban Economics 29(1): 14–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, D.E. 1980. “Transferable Development Rights Markets.” Journal of Urban Economics 7(1): 63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, D.E. 1989. “Is Zoning a Negative Sum Game?” Land Economics 65(1): 1–12.Google Scholar
Rolleston, B. 1987. “Determinants of Restrictive Suburban Zoning: An Empirical Analysis.” Journal of Urban Economics 21(1): 1–21.Google Scholar
Thorsnes, P., and Simon, G.P.W. 1999. “Letting the Market Preserve Land: The Case for a Market-Driven Transfer of Development Rights Program.” Contemporary Economic Policy 17(2): 256–266.Google Scholar