The Value of Place: Exploring Regional Development and Land Use Strategies

by Frank Moulaert (Editor), Abid Mehmood (Editor)

Overview

This perceptive book explores the complex relationship between land use and regional development. It emphasizes the importance of land as a host for ecological, social, and cultural values, challenging the conventional view that it is exclusively an economic commodity or tradeable asset.

Inspired by Professors Pavlos Delladetsimas’ and Flavia Martinelli’s innovative research, leading experts examine the growing dominance of market value in land allocation, demonstrating how this limits access to affordable homes and quality of services to persons and threatens sustainable development due to economic, social, and political pressures. They investigate the role of land in regional policies, illustrating how the traditional neoliberal approach has been unsuccessful in addressing inequality and providing essential services. The book reflects on sustainability, analysing detailed case studies such as tourism and social services policy in Southern Italy, sustainability issues in regional development in Croatia, and the relationship between rent, agglomeration, and the economy in London. It concludes by outlining alternative governance models, advocating for the adoption of commoning (collective use of land and resources) to enable equitable and inclusive land use.

The Value of Place is a vital resource for students and scholars of human and economic geography, spatial planning and policy making, urban and regional studies, and socio-economic development. Policymakers and practitioners in planning, sustainable tourism, and land policy will also benefit from this forward-thinking book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781035347919
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	09/28/2025
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edited by Frank Moulaert, Emeritus Professor of Spatial Planning, KU Leuven, Belgium and Abid Mehmood, Senior Lecturer in International Planning and Sustainability, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK

Table of Contents

Contents
1 Introduction: the multifarious character of land values in
regional development 1
Frank Moulaert and Abid Mehmood
2 Capitalism is over, but the new is worse: reflections on rent,
services, and capitalist feudalism 22
Erik Swyngedouw
3 Rent, agglomeration, and the economy of London 39
Michael Edwards
4 Trends and challenges in post-COVID-19 housing
accessibility: a Greek perspective 49
Georgia Tseva
5 To informality and beyond: informal economic resilience and
the case for social cohesion 71
Abid Mehmood
6 TINA’s shadow: navigating fragments of the ‘social’ in the
European Union 81
Carlos Rodrigues
7 The good, the bad and the ugly (and the even uglier): policy
implications for Europe in times of welfare chauvinism, penal
populism, and new workfare programmes 99
Enrica Morlicchio and Jonathan Pratschke
8 Social citizenship between universalism and local practices:
care services in Southern Europe at times of neoliberal
austerity 111
Marisol García Cabeza and Dina Vaiou
9 Regional divides, territorial cohesion, and urban inclusion:
the role of social services 126
Antonella Sarlo
10 Greece: drafting a new law on forest land in the context of
land policy 140
Louis C. Wassenhoven
11 Tourism policy development in Southern Italy: evolution,
turning points, and impacts 154
Chiara Corazziere
12 European Union territorial strategies for sustainable island
development in Croatia 169
Marijana Sumpor
13 Tourism unveiled through a dialogue with sustainable local
development 187
Constanza Parra
14 Embedded planning and planners: rethinking the role of
planning and planners in an era of undefined becoming 207
Louis Albrechts
15 Regions and nations: frenemies – or just enemies? 224
Erica Schoenberger
16 (Not) always looking at the bright side of life: territorial social
infrastructure and institutional innovation in fragile territories 239
Loris Servillo
17 Planning without hybris: top-linked governance to empower
bottom-linked initiatives 258
Andreas Novy and Nora Dornis
18 Land policy: a path to interdisciplinary research on
governance and commons 274
Xenia Katsigianni and Pieter Van den Broeck
19 Commoning education in spatial development analysis and
planning 293
Pieter Van den Broeck, Xenia Katsigianni, Frank Moulaert,
Carine Assaf and Angeliki Paidakaki
Afterword 00
Diana MacCallum

Editorial Reviews

‘Struggles around land are one of the oldest and most enduring conflicts in human history. This timely and compelling book assembles state-of-the-art research and prominent scholars to explore the multidimensional issues at the heart of land-based conflicts. Key themes addressed in the book include: the commodification of land in different modes of capitalist development, the interplay of land use, nature conservation and public services, and the multilevel and participatory governance structures that are needed to fashion models of socio-ecological development that serve the interests of people and planet rather than private profit. This book will be essential reading for every discipline in the social sciences as well as for post-disciplinary students and scholars.’

Kevin Morgan

‘Traditional regional development theory and policy have relied on a narrow concept of land as a monetized commodity and tradeable asset. This conception overlooks the human development and community-based values of land that are necessary for place-based sustainable and equitable development policy models. This book goes beyond the conventional view and highlights how land is not merely an economic commodity but also a host for ecological, social, and cultural values. Through a series of original contributions, both conceptual and empirical, this excellent and path-breaking book highlights the importance of sustainable and socially just land use, and the importance of land management and planning for promoting sustainability, social equity, and inclusive decision-making. In so doing, it gives land a much-needed critical role in understanding, promoting, and governing regional development. As such, it is essential reading for regional development scholars, as well as those involved in spatial planning and policy.’

Ron Martin