ABSTRACT
In the 1947 Act the vital distinction was made between existing use values, the value of property for the use to which it was being put, and development values, the additional value for a more profitable potential use. The police power, the enforcement of regulations to preserve and promote the health, safety, morals and welfare of the people, corresponds to 'negative' controls in Britain, including development control. One of the most neglected subjects of modern economics is the theory and measurement of urban land values. This neglect is all the more astonishing in view of the important, even critical, public policies that are dependent on an adequate understanding of land prices and the reasons for their change. The rights and obligations of proprietary interests in real estate are much the same in both countries, the American system stemming from the English common law.
