Article
wolf-powers-2023-dilemmas-of-21st-century-land-value-capture-examining-henry-george-s-legacy-in-a-new-gilded-age.pdf
Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
(2023)
Abstract
This essay reviews 20th century applications of Henry George’s thought by local and national policy makers
in the Anglo-American context with the goal of better interpreting contemporary debates about land value
capture (LVC). Proponents of LVC mechanisms argue that incentive zoning, planning obligations/exactions,
special assessments, transfers of development rights, density bonusing, and tax increment financing can
rebalance public and private wealth and promote economically redistributive development where direct
government spending on social goods is not politically possible. Critical scholars question this stance, arguing
that interventions pursued under the LVC banner often deliver publicly generated wealth to already-affluent
parties while contributing to price escalation that harms low-income and middle-class citizens. An examination
of Henry George’s foundational ideas sheds light on the challenges policy makers have faced in attempting to
recover the “unearned increment” for the public. This analysis provides useful context for present-day debates
about the advisability and practical effects of land value capture mechanisms.
Keywords
- land value capture,
- land rent,
- Henry George
Disciplines
Publication Date
December, 2023
DOI
DOI: 10.1177/0308518X231216534
Citation Information
Laura Wolf-Powers. "wolf-powers-2023-dilemmas-of-21st-century-land-value-capture-examining-henry-george-s-legacy-in-a-new-gilded-age.pdf" Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space (2023) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/laura_wolf_powers/51/