The Value of Place – Exploring Regional Development and Land Use Strategies

This perceptive book explores the complex relationship between land use and regional development. It emphasizes the importance of land as a host for ecological, social, and cultural values, challenging the conventional view that it is exclusively an economic commodity or tradeable asset.

Inspired by Professors Pavlos Delladetsimas’ and Flavia Martinelli’s innovative research, leading experts examine the growing dominance of market value in land allocation, demonstrating how this limits access to affordable homes and quality of services to persons and threatens sustainable development due to economic, social, and political pressures. They investigate the role of land in regional policies, illustrating how the traditional neoliberal approach has been unsuccessful in addressing inequality and providing essential services. The book reflects on sustainability, analysing detailed case studies such as tourism and social services policy in Southern Italy, sustainability issues in regional development in Croatia, and the relationship between rent, agglomeration, and the economy in London. It concludes by outlining alternative governance models, advocating for the adoption of commoning (collective use of land and resources) to enable equitable and inclusive land use.

The Value of Place is a vital resource for students and scholars of human and economic geography, spatial planning and policy making, urban and regional studies, and socio-economic development. Policymakers and practitioners in planning, sustainable tourism, and land policy will also benefit from this forward-thinking book.

Edited by Frank Moulaert, Emeritus Professor of Spatial Planning, KU Leuven, Belgium and Abid Mehmood, Senior Lecturer in International Planning and Sustainability, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK