ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how municipalities try to reduce the uncertainty about the future demand for industrial land. It describes the way in which the expectations are formed about uncertainties in the markets for land and property by reviewing the literature. The chapter focuses on the latter type of uncertainty in land and property markets, and on how public agencies themselves try to reduce it when they are actively involved in land development. The chapter further analyses the way that Dutch municipalities forecast the demand for industrial land is a good case to study this, in particular because those municipalities, in supplying serviced building land themselves, bear the risk of bad forecasts. Since World War II, municipalities have pursued an 'active land policy' with respect to industrial land. The chapter suggests that public policy should play a stronger role in reducing and containing uncertainty in land and property markets by making this an explicit policy objective.
