Munic ipal land allocation in larger development projects

Abstract: Currently there is a high demand for housing in Sweden, especially in the metropolitan areas. The municipalities own a major part of the land intended for new construction. Through a land allocation the land can be allocated to developers, which in turn develops the area. Thus, land allocation is a vital tool for the housing development in Sweden. Currently there are no regulations concerning how the land allocation should be carried out. Consequently, the implementations differ significantly between different municipalities and projects. The purpose of this master thesis is to describe and compare different approaches of municipal land allocations in larger development projects. Furthermore, the aim is to analyze pros and cons of the different approaches and recommend which components that should be used in land allocations of larger development projects. When the different approaches have been described and compared the particular method has been studied, what criteria that have been used during the selection of developers and how the assessment has been carried out. Other than that the duration, pricing and regulation of rent and tenure have been investigated. Furthermore, questions regarding zoning have also been considered in the study. The four projects that has been investigated is Frihamnen (Göteborg), Årstafältet (Stockholm), Södra Ladugårdsängen (Örebro) and Vallastaden (Linköping). The objective of the study has been achieved through a literature review and a case study of the four projects. The case study is based on written documents and conducted interviews with involved parties from the municipalities and developers. The study has shown that all approaches of land allocation studied differ depending on the project conditions and objectives. In all projects a tender process has been the base for selection of developers. Price was the driving factor in Årstafältet, while other criterias were in focus in the other projects. The study shows that a selection based on other criterias then price is good in order to promote quality and diversity in the project. However, a tender based only on price is a simple and relatively cheap method. Regarding detail plans, it is concluded that it can be an advantage for smaller municipalites to prepare the detail plan before a land allocation takes place in order to attract developers. This approach is something that especially promotes smaller developers since preparation of a plan is costly and time-consuming. In addition, it is concluded that it always should occur some type of coordination and planning among the municipality and the selected developers in order to obtain optimal overall solutions for the area.