This issue explores Maryland’s smart growth programs and a new land use reform initiative that the state is trying out; the costs, benefits, and policy framework of housing demolition and replacement projects; and the effects of informal land markets on property taxation in Latin America.

This issue looks at land use efficiency, food security, and farmland preservation in China; and lessons learned about the effects of large-scale interventions on urban development in Brazil. It also attempts to answer the long-standing, critical question of who actually bears the burden of residential property taxes.