Corruption in land-use issues: a crucial challenge for planning theory and practice

Abstract

This paper deals with the question of corruption in the field of land-use planning. To curb the insidious spread of graft and bribery, anti-corruption measures should be built into any planning system as part of its structure. Corruption in the planning field is largely tied to the opportunities that land-use planning generates by allocating development rights and land uses (following a discretionary and differentiated logic). This paper will explore some of the principles and techniques (transparent negotiation, auction of development rights, recovery of land rent, and formal equality in a radical version) that can be implemented to contain or eliminate corruption at the outset.