Growth Management Priority and Land-Use Regulation in Local Government: Employing a Full Structural Equation Model

Growth management is a rational means of controlling local land use and development patterns in terms of regulatory policy. The authors expand the scope of previous research by addressing the causal relationship between the land-use policy-making process and its consequences. In terms of the political market perspective, this research examines direct and indirect causalities among interest groups, government, land-use policy choice, and the policy outcome. On the basis of the theoretical and analytical setting, the authors conclude that local governments are positively influenced by growth management–oriented interest groups, and they are more likely to devise smart growth land-use tools, but less likely to choose direct land-use regulation. Within governmental regulatory actions, however, direct regulations such as urban growth restrictions, greenbelts, and rural protection lines are regarded as more effective instruments to identify the stringency of land-use regulation for reducing urban sprawl rather than smart growth land-use policy tools. Finally, the causal relationships found in this research imply that, rather than using one direct effect measurement in the study of land-use regulation, the different dimensions have various causalities on land-use regulation and regulatory performances.