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PM/ 20.8.2005
Kauko Viitanen & Arvo Vitikainen
Field of Research:
LAND READJUSTMENT AND LAND CONSOLIDATION
1 INTRODUKTION
When an area of real properties is developed by changing the ownership structure it is carried out either voluntarily or by compulsory means. As a result, the real property structure in the area will also usually change. Land reallotment can be classified between these voluntary and compulsory proceedings, as the ownership will mainly stay the same and only the property division will change. Land reallotment procedures can further be divided to urban (land reallotment) and rural (land consolidation) procedures. Characteristic for land reallotment is a clearly limited area and project-oriented procedure. Reallotment can also be used only for changing the rights of use of the land, e.g. for facility procedures (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Classification of procedures for structural change of real properties (Viitanen 2000).
1.1 Land readjustment
Land readjustment is likely to bring current land use, land ownership issues and other land tenure (individual subjective property rights) in accordance with private and public requests on the land use (manifested in planning goals) and/or to eliminate disturbing effects according to plan (Thomas 2005). Characteristic of the (urban) land readjustment procedure is a change in existing land use and/or land use intensity with the purpose of producing or reorganising built-up areas and to adjust the parcels concerned to the intended development.
The land readjustment procedure is justified not only on the basis of cost and efficiency but also on the basis of its fair treatment of landowners, improvements in plan quality, savings to the community, and environmental benefits. Under normal planning conditions the landowner may avail him/herself of the land value increment or decrement created by the plan depending on the intended use according to the plan, i.e. the value of the property may increase considerably or even decrease. In the readjustment procedure the land value changes can be fairly and equally divided between the landowners. The procedure will therefore also contribute to preventing speculations about planning. As the property boundaries can be disregarded when preparing the plan, the number of potential plan solutions will essentially be increased and finally the quality of the plan itself improved. At the same time the existing social structure can also be maintained (contrary to a situation where expropriation of the area is used). It has been noted, especially with smaller-scale developments, that the small entrepreneurs/owners are prepared to invest in the development of their area with little expectation of profit, only if they feel the unsatisfactory situation in their area will improve. The participation of landowners cannot therefore be directly measured in terms of money, but it seems that they must have at least some chance of obtaining a share of any future profits.
1.2 Land consolidation
Land consolidation means the reallotment of a rural area generally concerning agricultural or forest properties with fragmented ownership structure. The general objectives of land consolidation are to improving the production and working conditions in agriculture and forestry as well as promoting the general use and development of land and rural areas by re-arrangement of agricultural land (Thomas 2005). These objectives are pursued by land exchanges between real estates generally without changes of ownership. In addition to actual land exchanges, improvement of the road and drainage network, different building, landscaping, environmental management and conservation projects, and other functions (see e.g. Figure 4) necessary for the objectives may be implemented.
Land consolidations can be classified as (traditional) proceedings and proceedings for project implementation (land consolidation in case of permissible compulsory acquisition). Land consolidation may cover an entire rural village or a part of it, a detached field area, forest area (e.g. in Sweden) or a water area (e.g. in Norway). The residential area of the village may not be included in the land consolidation, but e.g. in Germany, on the other hand, readjustment of the village centre area (Dorferneurerung) may be incorporated. The objective of land consolidation for project implementation is to enhance the implementation of a certain development project by adjusting the land division to alternating land use requirements. Projects potential for this kind of land division are, for example, public road, railway, power line, conservation area, airport, harbour, or mine.
The most important difference between (urban) land readjustment procedures and land consolidation procedures is that the land readjustment procedure is very closely linked to detailed local planning and other land use planning. In land consolidation the planning phase for the new landscape design is embedded in the actual procedure concerned. (Thomas 2005).
2 LAND REALLOTMENT PROCEDURES
A development process in connection with the urban land readjustment procedure does not differ from a “normal” land development process in the main stages, which, according to Kalbro, (1992) are: initiation, land acquisition, planning, financing, permission by the authorities, construction of the infrastructure and buildings, and evaluation of the project. Generally speaking, all of these stages can be implemented by the urban land readjustment procedure and a pool of landowners (readjustment association) instead of an individual developer will answer for the procedure. At the very least, the readjustment procedure can be regarded simply as a method for changing the division of land.
The contents of the land consolidation procedure include similar main stages in the Western European Countries. The process consists of the preparation stage, inventory and planning stage, and the implementation stage, each varying in extent and duration (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Land consolidation procedure (Sonnenberg 2002).
Research question:
Land reallotment (land readjustment and land consolidation) is implemented at the moment in almost every Western European country. Meanwhile, the Central European countries under so-called transition economy are developing new legislation for launching the land consolidation activity. There are, however, significant differences in the applicability of the methods between various countries. The objective of the research project is to analyse how the methods function in practice in various countries and various circumstances and/or what problems they cause. By means of comparative international research it is possible to learn to use land readjustment and land consolidation in the best possible way for achieving the various goals, i.e. to create so-called best practices. At the same time it is possible to analyse how the weaknesses and defects of the processes should be eliminated.
3 OBJECTIVES OF LAND REALLOTMENT
The objectives of land reallotment (land consolidation and land readjustment) vary in different countries, as the development of the procedures has been effected by the historical trends, culture, traditions and legislation in each country. The objectives can, however, be operationally grouped into objectives concerning agriculture and forestry, the development of other industries, the housing and living environment, and other land use needs. Regarding the goal setters the objectives can be considered from the viewpoint of the landowners, other interested parties, society and other interest groups. According to these two classifications the objectives can be grouped as presented in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Objectives of land consolidation and land readjustment (Vitikainen 2003).
Regarding the objectives of land consolidation we must keep in view that different goal setters may have different emphasis considering the same operational objective. The farmers, for instance, may set the reduction of the production costs as the primary goal for land consolidation. The residents in a rural village may emphasise the need for adjusting agricultural production to the other land use needs of the village community. Considering national economy (state) the objective may be, in addition to reducing the production costs, a controlled increase or decrease of the equity ratio.
Research question:
Land reallotment can be used as the means for promoting sustainable development, e.g., protecting environmental biodiversity, founding conservation areas, preserving active natural and cultural areas, erosion prevention, and slowing climate change. It shall be outlined by research how land reallotment may help in generating communities taking care of the environment (real estate units), where also the responsibilities are divided (balancing the encumbrances), and what the rest of society might subsidize. Together with developing the objectives and contents of land reallotment it shall also be outlined how the interplay between rural and urban areas would be activated instead of confrontation. As for recreation areas, infra networks, etc., the proceedings might well be extended even to more urban environment, so people would be better off but with minimum environmental stress.
References
Kalbro, T. (1992). Markexploatering. Ekonomi, juridik, teknik och organisation. LMV-rapport 1992:4. Lantmäteriverket. Gävle. 288 s. ISBN 91-7774-033-5.
Sonnenberg, J. (2002). Fundamentals of Land Consolidation as an Instrument to Abolish Fragmentation of Agricultural Holdings. Paper, FIG XXII International Congress. Washington, D.C. 19.-26.4.2002. 12 p.
Thomas, J. (2005). Actual Trends concerning, Land Management, Land Readjustment and Land Consolidation in Europe - Possible Fields of Research. Report at the 7thworkshop and 8th MC meeting of the Action G9 of COST in Thessaloniki/Greece, 9-11 June 2005. 21 p.
Viitanen, K. (2000). Finsk Reglering av byggnadsmark i ett internationellt perspektiv. (The Finnish Urban Land Readjustment Procedure in an International Context). Meddelande 4:84, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan. Stockholm. 397 p. ISSN 0348-9469.
Vitikainen, A. (2003). Uusjakojen toimitusmenettelyn uudistamisesta. (Development of the Land Consolidation Procedure). Kiinteistöopin ja talousoikeuden julkaisuja A32. 199 s. ISBN 951-22-6530-3.