"Land value return” and building a more equitable economy · Best Practices in Building Systems

Title: "Land value return” and building a more equitable economy
Abstract: We create infrastructure to facilitate development. But, when infrastructure is well-designed and well-executed, it increases the price of nearby land. This pushes development (particularly affordable development) away from infrastructure to cheaper, but more remote sites. This “infrastructure conundrum” is one cause of urban sprawl that creates many environmental and fiscal problems. Also, communities seek to improve the quality of life in distressed neighborhoods. Enhancing education, transportation, public safety and other neighborhood characteristics are common approaches. But, if communities succeed with these efforts, rents rise and the intended beneficiaries might be displaced. Public funds spent to improve the lives of poor residents end up enriching landlords who, even in distressed places, tend to be relatively affluent. This “no good deed goes unpunished” problem causes some to conclude that it’s counter-productive to improve conditions in distressed neighborhoods.

This article shows that the economics of sharing can help solve these problems and promote more prosperous, sustainable and equitable communities.
Contributor: Rick Rybeck, Director, Just Economics, LLChttps://justeconomicsllc.com
Date Submitted: 2026/02/19
Format: PDF
Type: Text
Extent: 6 pages
Language: en-CA
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License
Is Part Of: Cross-cutting system threads; Care, Maintenance, and Return; Governance, Roles, and Responsibility; Affordability and Local Resilience
Description: article
Identifier: 12

Media: "Land value return” and building a more equitable economy