Key Issues

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
View over Dharavi Slum in Central Mumbai, India

Innovations in Financing Infrastructure

As cities worldwide swell with billions of new residents, the demand for infrastructure is increasing dramatically.  Through an approach known as land value capture, cities can recover the land value generated by public works projects and pump it back into more infrastructure.

photo by iStock.com/holgs
These four global challenges highlight the importance of good land policy.
Land plays a central role in both the financing of infrastructure and the maintenance of basic city services for metropolitan regions throughout the world.
The story of people marginalized in metropolitan regions — whether living in slums worldwide, or in low-income communities in developed countries — begins with land.
Land policy is a powerful lever for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening resilience to climate change, and supporting conservation efforts.
For billions of people, quality of life rests on the ability of local governments to deliver public services and invest for the future. The value and use of urban land plays a key role in determining the fiscal health of municipalities.

A Universe of Policy Implications

The use and value of land have significant implications for a variety of policy issues, from economic development and local government, to climate change and urban poverty.