Land Transfers and Land Development in the Context of Land Reallocation

Land reallocation is a scheme through which fragmented land parcels are reallocated so that the plots become suitable for immediate development in terms of size and shape. This scheme is widely employed in countries where small and irregular land parcels are commonplace, notably in Taiwan and Japan. Even though land reallocation is argued to have increased the rate of land development, its relationship to participantsí (land owners and developers) strategies is not clear. The participantsí strategies in respect of selling and buying land are, however, to a great extent associated with the outcomes of the scheme. The participantsí selling-and-buying strategies are examined by looking into the timing and pattern of land transfers and land development. Questions as follows are posed. At what stages of land reallocation did land transfers occur? When did the activities of land development happen? The changing nature of legal rights over plots in the course of land reallocation is expected to significantly influence the timing and pattern of land transfers. In addition, the performance of real property market at the time not only affects land transfers but also land development. Questions as to the strategies are answered using a case study of land reallocation project on the outskirts of Tainan City, Taiwan. The project covered a relatively large area consisting of more than 1000 reallocated plots and was completed 15 years ago. This project provides an opportunity for looking into land transfers and land development in a time context. Data, including the identities of buyer(s) and seller(s) of land, date of land transfers and date of land development, obtained from the local government is carefully examined. The strategies of land owners and land developers are revealed based on the analysis of the data set.