Land Policies in India : Promises, Practices and Challenges

This book examines how property rights are linked to socio-economic progress and development. It also provides a theoretical analysis, an economic/social analysis of planning, case studies of the implementation of planning and regulation instruments, practices related to law and planning, analysis of case laws in a particular segment. The interconnection between property, law and planning is a running theme throughout the book. 

The land question has been central to South Asian development on two counts: First, although the majority of the population relies on agriculture and allied activities their livelihood, landholding is highly skewed; second, urban planning is facing unprecedented challenges due to bourgeoning property values as well as gush of migrants to cities seeking livelihood. The response to these challenges in the form of laws and policies has been very large compared to the academic attention that is received. However, the measures emerging from planning and policies have had limited impact on the extent of the problems. This paradox calls for serious introspection and academic engagement that this book undertakes. The book further deals with the emerging discipline of planning law, which determines property value and use, and argues that regulatory issues of public policy determine the property valuation and property pricing.

Sony Pellissery is a Professor at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. After his doctoral studies at Oxford, UK he served as an associate professor at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand for five years. He is involved in developing a Master’s Programme in Public Policy at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He is the recipient of Prof. G. Ram Reddy Social Scientist Award―2015. 

Ben Davy is Professor of Land Policy, Land Management and Municipal Geo-information at the School of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund University, Germany. He is essay editor of Planning Theory and member of the editorial boards of the Journal of the American Planning Association, Planning Theory and Practice, and The Public Sector. From 2010 to 2016, he was the Vice President and President of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights. Ben Davy's areas of research include property theory, land p

olicy, planning theory, and real estate evaluation.

Harvey M. Jacobs is affiliated to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, where he holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.  He is also a Visiting Professor at Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands, and is a 2008 recipient of the L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, awarded by the French Government.  Prof. Jacobs’ academic specialty is the social and legal aspects of land policy, with a particular focus on property rights.  Prof. Jacobs has been invited to give lectures on his research and consult on aspects of his work in countries around the world, including in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, and throughout North America.