This paper studies the Rawlsian first-best allocation in a monocentric city model using a unifying framework of land ownership. We show that a Rawlsian planner would not choose the market outcome, except for the extreme case of public land ownership in which all the differential rent is...

We measure the economic effects of urban growth boundaries or greenbelts that prohibit new construction beyond a predefined urban fringe. We focus on England, where 13% of the land area is designated as greenbelt land. Using spatial differencing, we show that the external effects of these...