Contents: Foreword by Yoram Barzel 1. Introduction 2. The Benefits and Costs of Co-operating in Cities 3. Organisational, Institutional and Proprietary Order 4. Spatial Order 5. Public Domain Order 6. Public Domain Order – Public Goods 7. Public Domain Order – Externalities 8. Conclusion Bibliography Index
Chris Webster, Faculty of Architecture, University of Hong Kong and Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai, Professor of Economics, Planning and Law, Department of Real Estate and Construction, University of Hong Kong
'This is an important book. The authors in effect offer a positive
theory of planning and urbanisation. As such, Webster and Lai's
model, based on institutional economics, is a vast improvement on
some equally ambitious predecessors. The book's insights and
clarity make it a must reading for anyone seeking better
understanding of how cities evolve as they do, and why planning is
an integral part of their evolution.'
*Ernest Alexander, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, US*
'A truly remarkable achievement.'
*Mark Pennington, Kings College, London, UK*
'Chris Webster and Lawrence Lai have created a coherent and
insightful integration of concepts such as property rights,
organizations, competition, incentives, transaction costs, public
goods, and externalities, which will help theorists and urban
practitioners analyze and manage city goods and services. An
important insight of the authors is the recognition of the
interdependencies of people in a neighborhood, which can be
efficiently handled with shares in the property value of the
neighborhood. There is a constant question of how much markets and
how much government should be involved in urban matters, and the
authors provide a reasoned, balanced approach which recognizes the
vital role of government while appreciating the effectiveness of
markets and decentralized decision making, including private
institutions or 'clubs' such as homeowners' associations. Their
position that governments and markets co-evolve and complement one
another is sound, and their conclusions regarding the need to
provide clear property rights and efficient rules provide us with
theoretical tools to better understand how cities can be improved
while being wary of the 'allure of utopia".'
*Fred Foldvary, Santa Clara University, California, US*
'This is a really important contribution to the planning
literature. Beautifully written and clearly structured, it explains
the complex relationship between "planning" and "markets" using the
economic perspective of transaction cost theory and the
"new-institutionalism". This provides a robust way of addressing
the old "economic and planning" agenda, which the authors
illustrate with references to cases and situations from across the
world. Informative and stimulating, this should be included in
every planning theory course, and will be helpful to all trying to
re-think old debates about planning and markets.'
*Patsy Healey, Newcastle University, UK*
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