The incidences of the so-called windfall gains could be detected by the land price increases. In the ordinary urban settings, the changes in land prices take place by the changes in zoning, the designation of the urban planning facilities, and the pub...
The incidences of the so-called windfall gains could be detected by the land price increases. In the ordinary urban settings, the changes in land prices take place by the changes in zoning, the designation of the urban planning facilities, and the public- and private urban development projects. In the processes, the windfall gains occur mostly in the cases of up-zoning while the wipe-out losses, on the other hand, take place in the cases of down-zoning. So far, the ways of taking the windfall gains by the public sector have been much studied and the corresponding policies and regulations have been well prepared. The ways to recompense the wipe-out losses, on the other hand, have only been studied in terms of pure legal perspective thus lack in its practical methods to realize. Since the occurrences of the windfall gains and wipe-out losses are indispensable in the urban setting, it seems crucial to investigate the ways to properly coordinate between the two incidences. The study, in this context, tries to probe the actual cases of both windfall gains and the wipe-out losses together in an effort to observe the circumstances that bring about either the gains or the losses and to empirically measure the sizes of such gains and losses in each case. It is hoped, in this way, to contribute to find out a way to equitably adjust and compensate between the two.
For the analysis of windfall gains first, the study takes the case of Yongsan District and Wangshimly Area in Seoul City. The two cases are known to have the largest number of parcels in the District Unit Planning Area that accompanied the up-zoning in the entire Seoul after the year 2000. The study observes in detail the land price increases before- and after the up-zoning. For the analysis of the wipe-out losses, in turn, the study takes the case of Sutaemal Area in Buchon, the satellite city of Seoul. The case area has recently been deregulated from the long-designated ‘Greenbelt Area,’ a strong restricts against the development activity by the zoning code. The study observes in detail the land price changes before- and after the up-zoning by the removal of the Greenbelt. The logic here is that, if there exist land price increases in the area, the price differential has been exactly the suppressed losses so far due to the down-zoning via the Greenbelt.
It is suggested that, for the former case of windfall gains, the measured gains accrued from the up-zoning of the area could be counterbalanced by the corresponding contribution of the facilities such as pocket parks or community center in the development area by the private developer. For instance, the 9 percent increases in land prices could be compensated by the contribution of the facilities occupying 9 percent of the land area under development. In the same line of reasoning, for the latter case of wipe-out losses, the amount of the land price increases after the up-zoning in the areas under land use control could provide a benchmark ratio to reasonably estimate the amount of recompense for the losses expected in the similar cases of down-zoning regulations being applied.
We have had as much complicated fabric of rules and regulations with regard to the coordination of developmental gains and losses as any other country. Sometimes, it is more desirable to manage well the existing regulations than just to add new rules on the existing web of rules. If the introduction of new rules is inevitable, however, it is required to accompany a multi-dimensional investigation of its efficacies prior to its introduction. The study, in this context, has merits in that it has dealt with the problems of gains and losses that could occur in the complex urban settings together and to probe the potential ways to equitably coordinate and adjust between the two.