ABSTRACT
The potential of provincial land banking is promising, until now its practical implication in the Netherlands is relatively restrained because of the limits set upon its use, especially in terms of efficiency. The legal construction of a land bank is important, it is often the simple outcome of the occasion and circumstances. Since the most important motive to establish a land bank lies in public-oriented goals, in this contribution public goals are considered essential. The instrument of land banking can be considered complementary to public policy in spatial planning. Regional land banking as an instrument for the implementation of spatial goals is a powerful instrument as the Dutch experience shows. The Dutch practice suggests that the success of regional land banking as an instrument is unlikely to be successful if used in isolation. When regional authorities are active in land banking, they are literally buying up land within municipal territories.
