T
he largest of the post-World War
II suburbs were the size of cities,
with populations between 50,000
and 80,000, but they looked like over-
grown subdivisions. In Levittown, Lake-
wood and Park Forest, model houses on
curving streets held families similar in age,
race and income whose suburban lifestyles
were reflected in the nationally popular
television sitcoms of the 1950s. The plan-
ning of these suburbs was often presented
in the popular press as hasty, driven by the
need to house war heroes returned from
the Battle of the Bulge or Bataan; any
problems could be excused by the rush.
But, haste was not the case. Political lob-
bying during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s
shaped postwar housing and urban design.
The postwar suburbs were constructed at
great speed, but that is a different part time, the federal government provided port Better Homes in America, Inc. By
of their story. massive aid directed to developers (whose 1930, this coalition had over 7,000 local
Postwar suburbs represented the delib- loans were insured by the Federal Housing chapters composed of bankers, real estate
erate intervention of the federal govern- Administration, FHA) and white male brokers, builders, and manufacturers who
ment into the financing of single-family homeowners (who could get Veterans lobbied for government support for private
housing across the nation. For the first Administration guarantees for mortgages development of small homes to boost
at four percent, with little or nothing down, consumption.
and then deduct their mortgage interest In 1931, Hoover ran a National
payments from their taxable income for Conference on Homebuilding and Home
March 2001 30 years). The federal government came Ownership that explored federal invest-
Volume 14, Number 2 to this policy after fierce debates involving ment, discussing not only financing and
architects, planners, politicians, and construction of houses, but also building
4 European Property business and real estate interests. codes, zoning codes, subdivision layout,
Taxation: Changing Times Herbert Hoover, as secretary of com- and the location of industry and commerce.
merce (19211928) and then as president President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched
7 Urban Sprawl and Land
(19291933), drew the federal government numerous New Deal programs in planning
Regulation: Latin America
toward housing policy to promote home and housing. The National Housing Act
9 Introducing LEO: building as a business strategy for economic created the FHA in 1934; the Resettlement
Lincoln Education Online recovery from the Depression. Working Administration, created by Executive Order
10 Couses on Mediating closely with the National Association of in 1935, sponsored the Greenbelt Towns;
Land Use Disputes Real Estate Boards (NAREB), Hoovers the U.S. Housing Act (Wagner Act) created
Commerce Department had established the U.S. Housing Authority to sponsor
11 Program Calendar a Division of Building and Housing in public housing in 1937.
1921, and went on to establish and sup- See Sitcom Suburbs page 2
Sitcom Suburbs Beginning in 1934, the FHA insured These advocates found themselves in
continued from page 1 bank loans to developers so they could a shouting match with NAREB lobbyists
purchase land, subdivide it, and construct who were busy discrediting public construc-
The RPAA and the Labor houses on it with very little of their own tion of shelter as un-American and pro-
Housing Conference capital involved. These loans of 80 or 90 moting government subsidies for private
Housing activists such as Catherine Bauer percent of project cost eliminated risk and housing development. Historians Rosalyn
and Edith Elmer Wood were members were made long before the developers had Baxandall and Elizabeth Ewen, in their
of the Regional Planning Association of buyers. In return, the developers had to book Picture Windows, document the hear-
America (RPAA), along with planners agree to submit site plans and housing ings on housing dominated by Senator
Lewis Mumford, Clarence Stein, and Benton plans for review by the FHA, which issued Joseph McCarthy in 1947 and 1948.
MacKaye. They advocated federal support booklets offering conservative advice about McCarthy hassled proponents of public
for public housing through the Wagner architecture and site design. Meant to cor- housing and planned towns. Attacking one
Act. Bauer, an architectural critic and rect the worst abuses of corrupt builders, federally funded multi-family project for
author of Modern Housing, was also execu- these manuals on small houses and on veterans, he claimed the government had
tive secretary of the Labor Housing Confer- planning profitable neighborhoods reject- paid for a breeding ground for commu-
ence, which campaigned for the design ed regional styles, scorned modern archi- nists. NAREBs Herbert U. Nelson also
of multi-family housing with child care tecture and, according to architect Keller believed public housing was communistic,
centers and recreational amenities. Projects Easterling, instituted mediocre subdivision whereas public support for private busi-
such as the Hosiery Workers Housing in products. Kenneth Jackson has document- nesses was fine. He argued that public
Philadelphia and the Harlem River Houses ed that the FHAs concern for resale value credit can properly be used to help sustain
for African Americans in New York, design- also led it to refuse loans for racially mixed home ownership and private enterprise,
ed by teams of noted architects in the 1930s, neighborhoods. Only all-white subdivisions, and he railed against the women housing
demonstrated the excellence possible for enforced by deed restrictions, would activists trying to promote affordable hous-
multi-family urban projects. Nevertheless, qualify. ing for women workers. McCarthys com-
conservative Republicans refused to vote The Realtors Washington Committee mittee also attacked building workers in
for the Wagner Act in 1935 and 1936, supported the FHA. It also lobbied against the AFLs traditional craft unions as incom-
passing it in 1937 with severe cost restric- federal government funding for any other petents who produced slack work and
tions, means testing for tenants, and slum approaches to housing, including complete would impede the postwar housing process.
clearance provisions to protect private towns planned by the Resettlement Admin- McCarthy found in developer
landlords. These provisions meant that istration, wartime housing for workers William Levitt an ally who testified that
design would be minimal and residents constructed by the government that might only federal aid to large private builders,
would be poor. The Labor Housing Con- provide competition for private efforts, coupled with abolition of zoning codes,
ference members bemoaned the final and public housing in the cities. Allied building codes and union restrictions,
result as the Anti-Housing Act. with NAREB were the U.S. Chamber of could solve the postwar housing shortage.
Commerce, the U.S. League of Savings Levitt and Sons, of Long Island, became
The Realtors Washington and Loans, the National Retail Lumber the nations largest home building firm by
Committee Dealers Association, and others. 1952, creating its first postwar suburb of
Many of NAREBs members, large-scale over 70,000 inexpensive houses on small
land subdividers of the 1920s, were original- Housing Hearings of 19471948 lots. Levitt followed FHA restrictions on
ly real estate brokerage firms, not home- After the war ended, demand for housing race, refusing to sell to African Americans,
builders. (They left the home building was intense. People were doubled up with so Levittown became the largest all-white
to small contractors or mail order house relatives, friends and strangers. Veterans community in the nation. There was never
companies.) By the 1930s, many of these lived in converted chicken coops and an overall town plan for Levittown, which
subdividers realized they could enhance camped out in cars. The need for shelter spanned two existing Long Island towns,
profits by erecting houses on some of their was only expected to grow as waves of Hempstead and Oyster Bay, in Nassau
lots to enhance the image of community demobilized veterans, wartime savings County. Levitt and Sons provided no
and stability they were selling. They at the ready, married and formed new sewers, relying instead on individual septic
renamed themselves community build- households. tanks, and built only residential streets that
ers. Herbert U. Nelson, NAREBs chief Although they were deeply disap- failed to connect with county and state
lobbyist, became executive director of the pointed by some aspects of the 1937 hous- highways. The project was all about selling
Realtors Washington Committee, which ing legislation, Catherine Bauer and other houses, not about the basics of sheltering
lobbied hard for the FHA, so that federal advocates of multi-family housing in urban tens of thousands of people according
sources of capital and guarantees of mort- residential neighborhoods did not retreat. to professional standards of housing or
gages would provide a safety net for the They campaigned for expanded public urban design.
subdividers building operations. Both housing through better legislation in the By October 1952, Fortune magazine
the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the form of the bipartisan Taft Ellender Wagner gushed over The Most House for the
National Association of Home Builders housing bill first introduced in 1945 and Money and praised Levitts Progress,
(NAHB) formed in the early 1940s as supported by such groups as the AFL, publishing his complaints about govern-
spin-offs from NAREB. the CIO and the Conference of Mayors. ment interference through too-strict FHA
T
he study of property taxation in
Member of
Europe offers special challenges European Union
because each country has a differ- (limited tax information) Iceland
Sweden
ent definition of land and property, and a Emerging Democracy
different approach to local property taxation. Finland
The term property often includes both Emerging Democracy Norway
(limited tax information)
land and buildings, but may also include Russia
Estonia
plants and machinery as well as certain pos- Other Countries
(researched) Scotland
sessions, such as automobiles. In Denmark, Denmark Latvia
for example, separate taxes may be levied Other Countries N. Ireland Lithuania
(not researched)
on the land and property elements of a England
Rep. Poland Belorussia
single holding. of Ireland Neth.
Germany
Wales
Among the 41 counties in our study, Belg.
Czech
Lux. Ukraine
we identified 61 different forms of local Rep.
Slovakia
taxation. Most are based on annual value, France
Switz.
Austria Hung. Moldova
Slovenia Romania
usually assessed on a capital or rental basis, Croatia
Bosnia
and are payable annually. While most coun- Yug. Bulgaria
Italy
tries tax the sale of property at the state Macedonia
level, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, 41 European Spain Albania
Turkey
Slovakia and Spain levy such taxes locally. Countries Portugal Greece
U
rban sprawl has generated many with functional infrastructure. As these quality of life and socio-spatial segregation.
studies, discussions and policies urban zones of underutilized and vacant Unequal access to urban services and pub-
in the United States, but in Latin land become less populated and more de- lic facilities is connected to other issues
America the expansion of large cities has valued, the cycle of deterioration worsens. such as security of tenure, poverty and
received relatively little attention, even The enigmatic relationship between con- social exclusion. The provision of adequate
though very large and rapidly growing trolling territorial expansion and promoting public transportation could play a central
cities are a widely recognized characteristic urban densification is critical to discussions role in improving the quality of life in
of the region. Several reasons may explain of land use regulation among academics Latin Americas expanding cities. The cur-
this disparity: and policy makers in Latin America, and rent situation is exacerbated for the poor
the belated urbanization process it carries over into three related land policy who have limited or no access to credit,
in most Latin American countries, where concernsenvironmental impacts, historic cannot afford the overvalued, expensive
an economic model based on agriculture preservation of older city centers, and housing in the city, and are forced to move
has predominated until recently; urban competitiveness. to informal settlements on the peripheries.
the strong and traditional domi- The study of urban sprawl and the use Because of limited transportation alterna-
nance of major cities, particularly capital of new instruments of urban land regulation tives, they must spend many hours a day
cities with a very concentrated pattern of were the subject of two recent seminars and pay a large share of their incomes to
spatial growth around central areas; and organized in Latin America by the Lincoln reach jobs in the city.
the development of illegal settle- Institute. The first, in association with the A third concern refers to public respon-
ments on the urban peripheries, outside Planning Office of the San Salvador Metro- sibility over urban growth controls. In
the limits of urban regulations and largely politan Area (OPAMSS) and the Central most cases, territorial expansion occurs in
ignored by both public and private American University Jos Simen Caas, a context of obsolete administrative juris-
investment. was held in San Salvador, El Salvador, in dictions characterized by fiscal fragmen-
Urban sprawl in most Latin American October 2000. The second seminar was tation and disparities. Regional planning
metropolitan regions presents a landscape held in So Paulo, Brazil, in collaboration and metropolitan-wide management,
of poverty, informal and illegal patterns of with McKenzie University, in December. either under the model of a metropolitan
land use, and a lack of infrastructure, public These seminars are elements in the government or an association of local gov-
facilities and basic services. This pattern development of a Latin American urban ernments, is unavoidable given the overlap
contrasts with the U.S., where suburban land regulation network supported by the and competition for responsibilities among
sprawl is characterized by residential zones Lincoln Institute. the different governmental entities trying
for high- and middle-income groups and to deal with urban land regulation. For
highly valued commercial and retail com- Common Concerns about Sprawl instance, in the San Salvador Metropolitan
plexes that are well-connected by a trans- Research results presented at the seminars Area, the design and use of infrastructure
portation system favoring the automobile. and subsequent discussions about those road systems is managed by at least three
findings revealed many common charac- central government offices and a municipal
Recent Tendencies teristics and shared concerns between cities planning bureau, creating numerous
Demographic and economic changes are in developing and developed countries. inefficiencies and conflicts.
influencing the expansion of various types One overriding topic concerns the impacts Finally, the negative effects and costs
of new residential developments in Latin of sprawling development on environmen- of urban sprawl affect the competitiveness
America. Ranging from large projects for tal conditions and their relationship to of cities throughout the Americas. Urban
middle- and low-income groups to exclu- land use norms and regulations. Some competitiveness is understood here as the
sive gated communities for high-income Latin American examples are Panama City synergistic combination of increased urban
groups, these residential areas sometimes and its surrounding Canal Zone; Caracas economic productivity, an improved quality
coexist with huge commercial centers and its adjacent coast; San Jos de Costa of life, and the creation of new and more
situated along main highways. Nevertheless, Rica and the mountains around the urban- democratic governance relations, not only
public facilities and urban services, such as ized area; and So Paulo and its water basins. as economic productivity in general terms.
public transportation, municipal water Latin American countries need to design The success of Barcelonas revitalization
and sewer resources, and adequate access and incorporate new market-oriented in- and competitiveness during the 1990 has
roads, are frequently unavailable for the struments for urban land regulation that generated much interest and is used as
lowest-income settlements. take environmental concerns into account, a model for urban planning in several
The tendency toward sprawling growth particularly given the obsolete and restric- Latin American cities.
in overvalued yet unserviced peripheral tive regulatory instruments and approaches See Sprawl and Regulation page 8
Regulation in the context of Limited local autonomy and Mario Lungo is director of the Planning
interjurisdictional competition inertia in fiscal and administrative Office of the Metropolitan Area of San
for private investments centralization Salvador, El Salvador. Contact:
opamss1@salnet.net.
for certain zones, and for the city as a tions of multilateral aid, and the local pri-
whole, to guarantee sustainable develop- vate sector. These new actors have emerged REFERENCES
ment, environment protection and the along with the privatization of urban ser- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. 2000. Metropoli-
overall competitiveness of cities. The vices, decentralization processes, and the tan Development Patterns. 2000 Annual
Roundtable. Cambridge, MA.
example of Eixo Tamanduatehy in Santo promotion of both local development
Lungo, Mario. 2000. Ciudad grande, pas
Andr, near So Paulo, Brazil, illustrates initiatives and new locally based regulations. pequeo: los desafos de la gestin metropolitana
the use of regulatory mechanisms to redev- With the diminishing role of central en Centroamrica, in Repensando a experincia
urbana da Amrica Latina: questes, conceitos e
elop a large urban industrial area for new governments in land regulation and the valores. Ana Clara Torres Ribeiro (organizadora).
land uses, new employment opportunities increased role of local governments and CLACSO, Buenos Aires.
L
EO, Lincoln Education Online, is course that was offered at the Institute in day, but is not always perfect. LEO users
an exciting new education resource past years. The lesson texts are supplement- should have a basic level of computer
offering a variety of Internet-based ed with audio clips that provide examples proficiency to successfully navigate the
courses and curriculum materials. The first and case studies to amplify important Basic Planning course, such as download-
two products now available through LEO points; links to research papers, Land Lines ing various kinds of software as instructed
are Basic Planning, an interactive course articles and other resources on the Lincoln to make LEO more interactive.
for planning board members and citizen Institutes website; links to other related Good response time is another essen-
planners, and Curriculum Resources on websites; photographs; bibliographies; and tial ingredient for minimizing computer
Property Taxation, a structured collection interactive message boards. Each lesson frustration and getting the most out of the
of written materials. Other online programs takes about 30 minutes to complete. course. Because many of the lessons contain
under development address small-lot forest Sample lesson topics are: graphic images and audio clips, we recom-
management in urbanized areas and land Introduction (definitions, terms, mend using a computer with at least a
use and transportation interactions. responsibilities and expectations) 56k-modem link to the Internet. LEO is
The Institute views distance learning Ten Principles of Planning designed to run with either Netscape or
as part of a broad education strategy in Environmental Planning Internet Explorer versions 4.0 or later.
which the mode of instruction is appro- Transportation Planning
priate for the topic and the student. We The Role of Zoning Registration Information
believe that basic training programs for a Developing a Master Plan The $75.00 registration fee gives the
large audience are well suited for distance Growth Management authorized individual user access to the
education options, whereas debating ad- In addition to the lessons and quizzes, planning course for one full year. This allows
vanced topics with colleagues and experts LEO contains a section for submitting ample time to study each lesson, explore
is more suited to a seminar format in a comments to discussion groups, where the links and related materials, and parti-
traditional classroom. Web-based courses users can share ideas and experiences with cipate in ongoing discussion groups. The
offer flexibility and convenience to users other course participants. Another section $200.00 registration fee for local govern-
who are able to pursue their education on lists Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), ment entities, such as planning boards or
their own schedules. Thus, these new which will grow as more users submit nonprofit community groups provides all
electronic learning opportunities are design- questions through LEOs email function. board members access to the course for
ed to supplement, not replace, the Insti- This course is not monitored, so users will one full year. Financial assistance is avail-
tutes established education program of not have direct access to the faculty. How- able through the Ronald L. Smith Scholar-
face-to-face courses, seminars, lectures ever, the faculty will read all the questions ship Program, named for a former presi-
and workshops. received and will attempt to address them dent of the Institute.
through the regular posting of answers If you are interested in reviewing the
Basic Planning Course and comments. complete Basic Planning syllabus, testing
The goal of the first LEO course, Basic Another feature of this LEO course is a free sample lesson or registering for the
Planning, is to introduce the fundamentals the opportunity to customize the material course, go to the Lincoln Institute website
of planning vocabulary, concepts and pro- for particular states or audiences. For (www.lincolninst.edu) and click on the
cesses to nonprofessional planning officials example, the Orton Institute, the educa- LEO button.
(e.g., members of planning boards, conser- tional arm of the Orton Family Foundation
vation commissions, zoning boards and based in Rutland, Vermont, and Steam- Curriculum Resources on
open space committees). The course was boat Springs, Colorado, is developing pro- Property Taxation
developed by John Mullin, AICP, of the grams for citizen planners in those states to The second new feature of LEO focuses
University of Massachusetts in Amherst, be offered in conjunction with the Basic on property taxation with links to working
Zenia Kotval, AICP, of Michigan State Planning course. papers, Land Lines articles, and presenta-
University, and Maureen Lempke, curric- tions from past Institute conferences and
ulum assistant at the Lincoln Institute. In Technical Considerations courses, all of which can be downloaded
addition to their teaching experiences in Computer-based learning is an exciting free of charge. The site was developed by
urban and regional planning, each has and convenient way to acquire new skills Joan Youngman, senior fellow and director
worked extensively with planning officials and knowledge, and LEO will be online of the Institutes Program in the Taxation
around the country on a wide range of 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, of Land and Buildings, with Jane Malme,
community planning projects. the user should first understand both the fellow of the Institute, Sally Powers, direc-
The course contains 22 lessons and fundamentals of using a computer for dis-
See Education Online page 10
Legal Issues
Economic
Analysis
International
Comparisons
Education Online
continued from page 9 Land Use Mediation
T
tor of the Assessing Department for the City of Cambridge, hroughout the United States, communities of all sizes are
and Michelle M. Thompson, visiting faculty in the City and relying on a new approach to resolving land use disputesa
Regional Planning Department of Cornell University. consensus building approach that brings all the relevant stake-
The tax section of LEO has two primary functions: holders together in a face-to-face dialogue assisted by a professional
to allow easy access to important Institute-sponsored educa- mediator. For several years the Lincoln Institute has been developing a
tional material on property taxation, and to provide an over- series of courses and publications on this important and popular topic
view of the topics addressed by this program area. The materials with Lawrence Susskind, professor of urban and environmental planning
are divided among eight categories and subsections (see at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and president of the Consen-
Figure 1). Over time these subsections will be updated and sus Building Institute (CBI) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
expanded with new course materials, research reports and This year we are offering the core course, Mediating Land Use
papers commissioned especially for LEO, as well as biblio- Disputes, in two locations:
graphies, glossaries and links to other websites that address Portland, Oregon, May 1415
property tax issues. Santa Fe, New Mexico, July 3031
These materials complement regular classroom courses The tuition fee of $250 covers all instruction sessions and exercises,
offered by the Lincoln Institute by allowing students to read lunch, and course materials. Enrollment is limited to 36 per location.
introductory and background material at their convenience
before a course or seminar, thereby reserving classroom time RELATED PUBLICATIONS
for advanced presentations and discussion. The availability Using Assisted Negotiation to Settle Land Use Disputes: A Guidebook
of material from past courses can help prospective students for Public Officials, by Lawrence Susskind, Ole Amundsen and Masahiro
choose new programs best suited to their interests and needs, Matsuura.
and allows those who have attended a course to review its 1999, 26 pages, paper, $12.00. ISBN: 1-55844-134-4
content and explore other aspects of the subject matter. Mediating Land Use Disputes: Pros and Cons, by Lawrence Susskind,
Mieke van der Wansem, and Armand Ciccarelli.
Dennis Robinson, vice president of finance and operations 2000, 40 pages, paper, $14.00. Policy Focus Report: PF009
at the Lincoln Institute, is directing the development of LEO in
Resolving Land Use Conflicts through Mediation: Challenges and
conjunction with the faculty and staff named above, and with
Opportunities, by David Lampe and Marshall Kaplan.
Sean Courtney, webmaster, Kim Egbert, web programmer, 1999, 94 pages, $14.00. Working Paper: WP99DL1
Laura Mullahy, research assistant, and Skip Green, president of
Digital Energy Interactive, LLC. Contact: leo@lincolninst.edu. Contact the Lincoln Institute via email (help@lincolninst. edu) or
website (www.lincolninst.edu) for further details about these courses
and publications.
land policy and taxation. By supporting multi-disciplinary Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
research, educational and publications programs, the 113 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-3400
Tel: 617/661-3016 Fax: 617/661-7235
Institute brings together diverse viewpoints to expand the body of
Email: annleroyer@lincolninst.edu (editorial content)
useful knowledge in three program areas: taxation of land and build- help@lincolninst.edu (information services)
ings; land markets; and land as common property. Our goal is to make Web: www.lincolninst.edu
that knowledge comprehensible and accessible to citizens, policy-
Editor Publications Assistant
makers and scholars, to improve public and private decisionmaking. Ann LeRoyer Kathryn Foulger
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