ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses land use controls, conservation, land development and the financial aspects of planning. It begins with a discussion of land prices and an analysis of the land price explosion of the early 1970s. The chapter deals with nonresident ownership of land and focuses on Ontario. It also discusses the issues, the focus shifts to the operation of the land market: land speculation, the market power of major developers, land banking and expropriation. The large profits incurred in land transactions, sometimes as a direct result of planning policies, have led to a range of measures to recoup betterment and to compensate for worsenment. The chapter shows that fundamental element in the thinking of the Greenspan report. It explores various Canadian measures including levies, capital gains taxes and Ontario’s land speculation tax. The British Columbia Conservation Act provides for compensation where a municipal heritage designation decreases the economic value of a property.
