ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the basic features of transfer of development rights (TDR) programs and discusses the rationale underlying the use of this tool. It describes the governance and implementation of TDR programs. The chapter addresses TDR effectiveness and highlights some limitations in the tool and existing research about its efficacy. It discusses policy implications and future research directions. A TDR program creates a market system for the re-allocation of development rights, shifting entitlements from a sending lot to a receiving lot. Development rights can be sold for eventual use on other land, to a third-party landowner or a public TDR bank that brokers transfers among private landowners. In many communities, underlying zoning allows as much density as the market can absorb, rendering additional development rights through TDR valueless. The majority of TDR programs in the US are administered by a single local government, often a county, or by a grouping of local units through an interlocal agreement.
