"Hong Kong has used a system of planning by consent that predates planning by edict. By selling long leases on a contractual basis, the government has an incentive to provide the contractual terms, obligations and rights to the leaseholder that maximise the value of the land. This system has...

This paper uses 1372 sets of cross-sectional data to evaluate empirically the probit estimates for five hypotheses regarding planning applications for the conversion of leasehold land lying fallow or under active agriculture to nonagricultural uses in agriculture zones in Hong Kong. Though the...

Through comprehensive case studies of privately planned cities and neighbourhood in Asia, Europe and North America, this book characterizes the theoretical basis and empirical manifestations of private urban planning. In this innovative volume, Andersson and Moroni develop an under-studied...

This paper discusses the espoused and actual achievements of government urban planning in Hong Kong in terms of the ideas of Hayek and Mises. With reference to observed facts, it is argued that it is indeed the spontaneous forces of the land market predicated on a leasehold system, a system of...

This paper seeks to construct an empirical research agenda based on transaction cost reasoning informed by the Coase Theorem. It explains why the Coase Theorem has not been well received in the area of construction economics and management, as revealed by the relevant bibliometrics; develops a...

This is a contribution to the debate on the contractual nature of subcontracting in the construction industry by arguing, contrary to certain views in the literature on institutional and construction economics, that the Coasian firm-market dichotomy is not blurred or pointless. By reference to...

As a first statistical study of a planning authority’s reasons for rejecting development proposals, this study examines hydraulic and transport engineering reasons adopted by the Town Planning Board for dismissing development applications for ‘small house’ use in Green Belt and Agriculture...

Most of the literature on the rapid changes in institutional arrangements in China's construction industry have either limited themselves to a description of these changes or relied on opinion surveys to draw conclusions. Few researchers have conducted serious empirical examinations, especially...

"In the December 2005 issue of" Economic Affairs", a collection of authors considered alternative institutions for planning and managing urban affairs. Following up the idea of 'planning by contract', this paper reflects on the role of negotiation in securing gains from trade over contested...