ABSTRACT
Land readjustment is an old technique for managing urban land, and it has received increasing attention over the past few years. In fact, land readjustment can be an effective and equitable technique for capturing value increase in urban land and for promoting more self-financed urban development and public goods provision. While in theory land readjustment provides an attractive land management and urban development tool, in practice, its effective application is rare among advanced economies. In Portugal, land readjustment came into force in 1999. However, from the public interest's perspective, the results of land readjustment application are far from desirable. In every case, land readjustment always starts with an early identification of all property owners and of the spatial boundaries within which development is implemented. Land readjustment is considered as a critical tool for promoting urban design quality, for the enhancement of the city's biophysical balance, and for providing public land for the implementation or renovation of public infrastructures and facilities.
