Air rights - A study of urban ropeways from a real estate law perspective

Abstract: Ropeways and cable cars are a means of transportation in the air, which is best known for transporting goods and people across natural obstacles such as lakes, mountains and valleys. Ropeways are tightly associated with alpine areas, but in recent years, a new use has emerged for ropeways. Ropeways have evolved into a personal transport in urban environments and are used to bind together neighborhoods that are separated by urban obstacles such as highways, railways and ports. Urban ropeways have been highlighted both as a way to make efficient use of land space and as an ecologically sustainable transport. Urban cableways are common in South America but has also increased in popularity in Europe. Today we can find urban ropeways in cities such as London, Coblenz and Ankara, and now urban ropeways are also planned for in Sweden. The municipality of Sollentuna and the city of Gothenburg are investigating the possibility of integrating urban ropeway in the public transport system. In conjunction with a new transport system in the air in urban environments, many real estate legal issues that need to be addressed. The aim of the master thesis was to investigate the possible and appropriate approach to acquire rights to the air space in urban environments for ropeways. The study has been carried out as a legal study which has its basis in a groundwork study. In addition to this a supplementary interviews with experts in the field, case studies, studies of cadastral documents and case studies of the planned ropeways in Sweden were conducted. A comparison has been made with other types of ropeways which already exists in Sweden, and with other types of public transport in Sweden. This thesis has been able to show that the three-dimensional property is possible for some urban ropeways. The study shows that there is no special legislation is possible to apply to urban ropeways, but that the Expropriation Act and the Real Property Act are applicable. Easements and three-dimensional spaces are shown to be appropriate rights to the aerial space for ropeways, and there is the possibility of forcible land acquisition. Finally, the thesis gives suggestions on how land access for urban ropeways (and other transport systems in the air) should be done continuously.