Area-wide development viability appraisals: the concept of threshold land value within a UK planning context

Area-wide development viability appraisals are undertaken to determine the economic feasibility of policy targets in relation to planning obligations. Essentially, development viability appraisals consist of a series of residual valuations of hypothetical development sites across a local authority area at a particular point in time. The valuations incorporate the estimated financial implications of the proposed level of planning obligations. To determine viability the output land values are benchmarked against threshold land value and therefore the basis on which this threshold is established and the level at which it is set is critical to development viability appraisal at the policy-setting (area-wide) level. Essentially it is an estimate of the value at which a landowner would be prepared to sell. If the estimated site values are higher than the threshold land value the policy target is considered viable. This paper investigates the effectiveness of existing methods of determining threshold land value. They will be tested against the relationship between development value and costs. Modelling reveals that threshold land value that is not related to shifts in development value renders marginal sites unviable and fails to collect proportionate planning obligations from high value/low cost sites. Testing the model against national average house prices and build costs reveals the high degree of volatility in residual land values over time and underlines the importance of making threshold land value relative to the main driver of this volatility, namely development value.

Concordance in global office market cycles

Concordance in global office market cycles, Regional Studies. A large proportion of international real estate investment is concentrated in the office markets of the world's largest cities. However, many of these global cities are also key financial services centres, highlighting the possibility of reduced economic diversification from an investor's perspective. This paper assesses the degree of synchronization in cycles across twenty of the world's largest office markets, finding evidence of significant concordance across a large number of markets. The results highlight the problems associated with commonalities in the underlying economic bases of the markets. The concentration of investment also raises the possibility of common flow of funds effects that may further reduce diversification opportunities.

Financial viability appraisals for site-specific planning decisions in England

In England, appraisals of the financial viability of development schemes have become an integral part of planning policy-making, initially in determining the amount of planning obligations that might be obtained via legal agreements (known as Section 106 agreements) and latterly as a basis for establishing charging schedules for the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Local planning authorities set these policies on an area-wide basis but ultimately development proposals require consent on a site-by-site basis. It is at this site-specific level that issues of viability are hotly contested. This paper examines case documents, proofs of evidence and decisions from a sample of planning disputes in order to address major issues within development viability, the application of the models and the distribution of the development gain between the developer, landowner and community. The results have specific application to viability assessment in England and should impact on future policy and practice guidance in this field. They also have relevance to other countries that incorporate assessments of economic viability in their planning systems.

The take-up of Neighbourhood Planning in England 2011-2015

Exploration of how neighbourhoods and others have responded to the UK government’s localism agenda in England, and specifically towards Neighbourhood Planning (NP), is important given that NP is a prominent part of that policy agenda. It is also of interest as the ramifications emerge for planning practice in the formal introduction of statutory plans which are ostensibly led by communities (Parker et al, 2015; Gallent, 2013). There is a necessary task to provide critical commentary on the socio-economic impact of localist policy. The paper explores the issues arising from experience thus far and highlights the take-up of Neighbourhood Planning since 2011. This assessment shows how a vast majority of those active have been in parished areas and in less-deprived areas. This indicates that government needs to do more to ensure that NP is accessible and worthwhile for a wider range of communities.

The role of Planning Aid England in supporting communities’ engagement in planning

In considering the position of community engagement within planning in a time of neo-liberalism and a context of ‘neo-communitarian localism’ (cf. Jessop, 2002; DeFilippis, 2004), this paper reviews the role and relevance of Planning Aid in terms of its performance and aspirations in guiding and transforming planning practice (Friedmann, 1973; 1987; 2011) since its inception in 1973. In doing this we reflect on the critiques of Planning Aid performance provided by Allmendinger (2004) and bring the account up-to-date following on from past considerations (e.g. Bidwell and Edgar, 1982; Thomas, 1992; Brownill and Carpenter, 2007a,b; Carpenter and Brownill, 2008) and prompted by the 35 years since the University of Reading produced the first published work reviewing Planning Aid (Curtis and Edwards, 1980). Our paper is timely given renewed attacks on planning, the implementation of a form of localism and reductions in funding for planning in a time of austerity. Our view is that the need for forms of ‘neo-advocacy’ planning and community development are perhaps even more necessary now, given the continuing under-representation of lower income groups, minority groups and to allow for the expression of alternative planning futures. Thus further consideration of how to ensure that Planning Aid functions are sustained and understood requires the attention of policymakers and the planning profession more widely.

The calculative turn in land value capture: lessons from the English planning system

For over three decades, negotiated planning obligations have been the primary form of land value capture in England. Diffusing and evolving over the last decade, a significant policy innovation has been the use of financial calculations to estimate the extent to which policies on planning obligations for actual, proposed development projects and in plan making affect the financial viability of development. This paper assesses the extent to which the use of financial appraisals has provided a robust, just and practical procedure to support land value capture. It is concluded that development viability appraisals are saturated with intrinsic uncertainty and that land value capture that is based on such calculations is, to some extent, capricious. In addition, clear incentives for developers and land owners to bias viability calculations, the economic dependence of many viability consultants on developers and land owners, a lack of transparency, contested or ambiguous guidance and the opportunities created by input uncertainty for bias are further failings. It is argued that how viability calculations are applied has been, is being and will continue to be shaped by power relations.

Revitalização do centro histórico de São Paulo e habitação popular: microeconomia e microgerografia

Esta tese de doutorado estuda a produção de unidades habitacionais para famílias de baixa renda coordenada com o programa de revitalização da região central do município de São Paulo. O estudo recupera o discurso da teoria microeconômica tradicional aplicada a estudos urbanos e o contrapõe a um discurso alternativo. Foi criada uma base de dados original na forma de um levantamento dos imóveis subutilizados nos distritos Sé e República a partir de visitas a campo, com observações diretas dos imóveis e utilizando técnicas de identificação por imagens de satélite e sistemas de geoprocessamento para avaliar a extensão e os padrões da degradação imobiliária. Os resultados da análise do banco de dados demonstram a plausibilidade do discurso alternativo e apontam para alguns fatores significativos que contribuem para o atual estado de degradação. Retoma-se então a análise da política de repovoamento da região central por meio de um programa de moradias para famílias de baixa renda e mostra-se como as técnicas empregadas permitem avaliar as razões para o baixo desempenho dessa agenda política no contexto de um amplo programa de revitalização urbana.

Capitalização do imposto de propriedade no preço de mercado dos imóveis

Esta dissertação estima e discute a capitalização do imposto de propriedade no preço de imóveis, isto é, quanto um aumento de IPTU reduz os preços de imóveis e vice-versa. Por um modelo de diferença em diferenças e algumas tentativas de falseamento, obtiveram-se fortes evidências de capitalização, onde, em média, 100% de variação no imposto altera por volta de 30% o preço dos imóveis. Com isto, políticas de isenção ou redução de IPTU com fins sociais podem ser questionadas, pois dificultariam o acesso à moradia das famílias mais pobres, contribuindo para o processo de favelização. Ao mesmo tempo, maiores patamares do imposto poderiam ser utilizados não somente para elevar as receitas municipais ou como contrapartida ao uso de serviços públicos locais, mas também para tornar os preços dos imóveis mais acessíveis, reduzindo a pobreza e estimulando o crescimento das cidades.

Entre a reforma urbana e a reforma imobiliária: a coordenação de interesses na política habitacional brasileira nos anos 2000

No período da gestão do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) no governo federal, configurou-se uma dupla agenda para a política habitacional brasileira: a primeira ligada à plataforma de reforma urbana, com previsão de descentralização entre os entes federativos e gestão participativa, e a segunda consubstanciada a partir das premissas de reestruturação do setor imobiliário e da construção civil, estruturada em uma política exclusiva de provisão habitacional com promoção privada e financiamento a partir de fundings públicos. No presente trabalho analisou-se a trajetória desta política nos anos 2000, tendo como foco principal o processo decisório que estruturou o arranjo permitindo a convivência destas duas agendas paralelas. Apesar das contradições e conflitos entre elas, também houve um tipo especial de imbricamento que produziu um jogo não só de coexistência, mas com ganhos para ambas. Combinando a análise institucional com abordagens teóricas focadas no papel dos atores e suas coalizões na transformação das políticas públicas, a tese teve como principal hipótese a existência de uma coordenação de interesses desenvolvida como marca característica do governo Lula e que sustentou a combinação destas duas agendas. Este modelo lulista de governança explicou e garantiu, em boa medida, a distribuição de benefícios a ambas as coalizões, além de ter legitimado a política habitacional dentro da agenda pública.

Análise da precificação de imóveis na cidade do Rio de Janeiro utilizando Modelagem Hedônica e os efeitos da autocorrelação espacial

A escolha da cidade do Rio de Janeiro como sede de grandes eventos esportivos mundiais, a Copa do Mundo de Futebol de 2014 e os Jogos Olímpicos de 2016, colocou-a no centro de investimentos em infraestrutura, mobilidade urbana e segurança pública, com consequente impacto no mercado imobiliário, tanto de novos lançamentos de empreendimentos, quanto na revenda de imóveis usados. Acredita-se que o preço de um imóvel dependa de uma relação entre suas características estruturais como quantidade de quartos, suítes, vagas de garagem, presença de varanda, tal como sua localização, proximidade com centros de trabalho, entretenimento e áreas valorizadas ou degradadas. Uma das técnicas para avaliar a contribuição dessas características para a formação do preço do imóvel, conhecido na Econométrica como Modelagem Hedônica de Preços, é uma aplicação de regressão linear multivariada onde a variável dependente é o preço e as variáveis independentes, as respectivas características que deseja-se modelar. A utilização da regressão linear implica em observar premissas que devem ser atendidas para a confiabilidade dos resultados a serem analisados, tais como independência e homoscedasticidade dos resíduos e não colinearidade entre as variáveis independentes. O presente trabalho objetiva aplicar a modelagem hedônica de preços para imóveis localizados na cidade do Rio de Janeiro em um modelo de regressão linear multivariada, em conjunto com outras fontes de dados para a construção de variáveis de acessibilidade e socioambiental a fim de verificar a relação de importância entre elas para a formação do preço e, em particular, exploramos brevemente a tendência de preços em função da distância a favelas. Em atenção aos pré-requisitos observados para a aplicação de regressão linear, verificamos que a premissa de independência dos preços não pode ser atestada devido a constatação da autocorrelação espacial entre os imóveis, onde não apenas as características estruturais e de acessibilidade são levadas em consideração para a precificação do bem, mas principalmente a influência mútua que os imóveis vizinhos exercem um ao outro.

A produção do mobiliário urbano nos espaços públicos :o desenho do mobiliário urbano nos projetos de reordenamento das orlas do Rio Grande do Norte

This work aims to analyze and evaluate the Urban furniture designed to public areas according to the Revitalization planning for Rio Grande do Norte coastland, defining visual relations among urban elements in the landscape of revitalized public urban areas with cultural, paisagistic and touristic values and the design process used for developing urban furniture to those areas, observing the incoming consequences use to that process in a specific urban context which alters use, functions, cultural images as well as social values attributed to each particular place. Environmental perceptions, legibility of local cultural references and their representation through the design of urban elements, act in a positive or negative manner over the inhabitants cognition process of some particular revitalized area, determining new use and attributions to those areas. Designs for coastal urban interventions try excessively to standardize technical media, construction materials and planning configurations, creating artificial sceneries that segregates users, imposing new structures and usage, generating, consequently, the so called non-places and burlesque regionalism. The research is divided into 4 chapters: 1) Theoretical support (Industrial design; Urban furniture; Public urban spaces; Urban image and environmental perception; Urban occupation and interventions in coastland areas); 2) Methodological procedures and data collection; 3) Analysis of Rio Grande do Norte coastal areas and their urban interventions; 4) Final considerations and Industrial Design contributions to the subject

Habitus e territorialidade na composição da dinâmica imobiliária em Natal/RN

Many have sought to understand the spatial processes, which originate from land development and real estate dynamics, seeking also to build new categories of analysis to put some light on the less evident aspects of this process. The discussion about production of space has been adopted in this study, but has proved insufficient to explain this complex urban reality. Here, it is analysed the ways that, in Natal, the market fosters the material basis for capital accumulation. The research had as methodological basis, the analysis of discourse, having full interviews with institutional agents as background. It aimed at understanding the complex, material configuration in urban space. It thus investigates the theory of practices of existing (private and public) agents towards the real estate market, using several concepts, like production of space (Lefèbvre and Harvey); habitus (Bourdieu); spatial fix (Harvey); and territoriality (Haesbaert). Evidence shows that there has been a process of ‗naturalization of certain practices in the market that has had implications for the production of an urban space that is both segmented and segregated, giving rise also to complex material configurations, including different forms of heterotopies (Foucault). These spaces result from capital s own creative dynamics and of the reach for social realization for different groups of people making a living under different economic conditions of income.

Modos de ser e modos de viver : a trajetória dos estrangeiros em Natal/RN

This work aims to understand the trajectory of immigrants living in Natal / RN, between the years 1990 and 2009, their motivations for this change, their sociability relations, as well as the impact of this group in Natal and specifically, in the district of Ponta Negra, where most of them established their residences or work. Considering that the historical, political, economical and social environment where these immigrants are inserted, are different from that experienced by former immigrants who came to Brazil in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period of mass migration, it was revealed that immigration studied in contemporary Natal constitutes a new configuration (Elias, 1994). This new configuration is represented by several characteristics that distinguish this contemporary immigration, as: the relationship established by these foreigners, both with their country of origin and the destination, the formation of social networks that offer support to newcomers and those already installed, the relations of sociability with locals and a new relationship of belonging with the space, since the possibility of coming and going from one country to the other, allows a (re)production of their original ?? social and economic life in the new space. The research methodology was based on the analysis of narrative interviews, in light of the theory of Schütze (1977) in order to understand the faces of this immigration. As theoretical support for the data analysis the theories of authors such as Norbert Elias, presentedin his work about the established and outsiders, Pierre Bourdieu, and his concept of habitus, distinction and style of life, Georg Simmel, and his study of life in the metropolis, his analysis of the foreigner and his theory of sociability, among others. This study attempted to give visibility to foreigners living in Natal, who experience the dynamics of the district of Ponta Negra and reconstruct their daily relations of sociability in this space. In fact, the presence of foreigners in this urban context allows for the construction of new configurations, both in terms of the physical space of the neighborhood, which has been modified by the touristification process and the real estate market, which is molded to meet this demand, but also in their social sphere, with regard to the relations established between foreign residents and locals. In seeking to characterize these migratory experiences it could be understood that the trajectories of each foreigner is part of a broader social structure, which cannot be evaluated neither disconnected from the contexts in which they operate, nor under a single point of view

Arranjos urbanos e subjetivos contemporâneos na invenção de territórios turísticos

We seek consistency empirical and analytical rigor to the concept of touristification in the course of the contemporary arrangements of subjectivity and urbanity stations through a landscape of social (dis)encounters between residents and foreigners living in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal. In the last three decades the city has become a major destination country for national and international tourism, making tourism an important monitor of choreography in search of synchrony between cities and subjectivities, orchestrated by the cyclical crises and the relentless battle for systemic capitalistic expansion and survival. We proceed with an ethnographic and cartographic inspiration in Ponta Negra, where the waterfront redevelopment in 2000 conducted by the government, influenced the implementation of various establishments, services and practices related to the construction of Natal s major industry hub of tourism and entertainment. We proposed an arch-genealogy of touristification inspared on Michel Foucault analytical perspective, increased by authors in confluence or in different theoretical and methodological approaches, among which stand out Karl Marx, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. The reflections that initially turned to the advancement of the sphere of consumerism as the issue capable of articulating the developmental trajectory of the capitalist system and the practice of tourism, promoting some effects (un)desirable in the conflictual dynamics of the condition of the district of Ponta Negra, territory each again (re) produces the designs to meet the consumption by affluent portion of the population and foreign, encountering social exclusion and inclusion differentiated a growing trend. We go forward with an analysis of the "liberation of desire" phenomenal features of the process of producing subjective, providing a breakdown of the recent world s financial crisis initially, but proved social and political crisis also, through a plot derived from the operation of real estate speculation, which Natal is mainly caught through touristification, showing the outlines of a generalized crisis in establishing a new order buoyed by the emergence of a context "biopolitical" since it is a major route that uses the capital to survive and expand, while guiding the process of "strategic beautification" held in Ponta Negra, problematized by us. We conclude by assessing the appropriateness of proposing on further analysis to explore the establishment of a "new social ontology in terms of interference touristification ongoing and the constitution of a "new order" local/global, away from that characterize a system's capitalist overcoming, try to give emphasis in the current stage of the radicalization of a capitalistic utopia

Natal Condomínio Clube : inovação espacial nos eixos de valorização da zona sul da cidade

This dissertation is about new real estate development in the southward expansion area in Natal, Brazil, by use of high-rise condos, so-called club-condominiums. The area includes part of the neighboring municipality, Parnamirim, and focuses on the role played by urban developers in the housing market. The main feature in these condos are common areas filled with leisure equipments, allegedly to grant quality of life, comfort and tranquility to residents. The rapid development of the area takes advantage of large plots of land available as well as of urban infrastructure. Overall preference of middle-class sectors for the South area of Natal (and adjoining part of Parnamirim) is also a factor worth of note. For this reason, this part of the city constitutes one of the preferred areas of urban developers. This dissertation includes a discussion of Henri Lefebvre s production of space, emphasizing its tridimensional features. It draws on David Harvey s works to deal with transformations of the built environment regarding the dynamics of real estate markets; in particular, it considers the idea of creative destruction. Finally, the dissertation discusses the concepts developed by Pedro Abramo regarding the forms of operation by urban entrepreneurs, in particular the concepts of urban convention and spatial innovation. For the empirical work, a number of interviews with key entrepreneurs and civil servants were undertaken. In more general terms, it is worth observing that there is a direct relationship between the location of such developments and the process of spatial fragmentation, seen both as a consequence and a strategy of the way urban developers operate