Urban Land Rent

Anne Haila is Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She was previously Professor at the Agricultural University of Norway and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore.  She is the author of many peer-reviewed journal articles on urban land rent theory and other topics in urban economics.

• Series Editors’ Preface ixAcknowledgements xiList of Figures xiiiList of Tables xvList of Abbreviations xviiGlossary xixPreface xxi1 Introduction: Singapore as a Case and Comparison 1European Classics and Western Theories 6Asian Studies: A Focus on Villages 8Urban Studies 10The Developmental State, Asian Values and Rent-seeking 12Singapore as a Property State 15The Chapters 21Notes 242 Ideologies of Land 26Land Regimes 27Debates on Genealogies 33Philosophies of Property 36Myths of Frontier and Homeownership 38The Economic, Moral and Political Land Question 43Notes 453 Economic Arguments: Rent Theory and Property Rights Theory 46Concepts and Forms of Rent 46Rent and Social Problems 48Extending the Rent Concept 51Property Rights Theory 53Ambiguous Property Rights and the Market for Development Rights 56Rent as a Social Relation 57Urban Land Rent 59Notes 614 Land Reforms: Practical Solutions and Politics of Land 63Radicals and Moralists 64Two Chinese Models of Land Reform 69Modern Land Reform 72Land Value Tax 78Neoliberal Land Reforms 80From Revolutions to Pragmatism 82Notes 855 Land Institutions and Housing 86Land Institutions and the Second Round of Land Acquisitions 87National and Urban Development 94Housing the Nation 98Housing Welfare 105Private, Expatriate and Migrant Housing 107Challenges 109The Value of Public Land and Fiscalisation of Rent 113Notes 1196 Property Tycoons and Speculation 120Rent-seeking 121Property is a Hot Topic in Singapore 123Rumours in Hong Kong 127Conglomerates, Dynasties and Pension Funds 130Private and Government-linked Companies in Singapore 134Industrial Landscape and the Jurong Town Corporation 137Private and Government Companies Sharing the Market 139Transnational Property Companies 146Capricious Landlords and Mean Developers: Absolute Rent 148Land Without Speculation 152Notes 1567 Diversification of a Real Estate Portfolio: The World is Singapore’s Hinterland 158Safe Haven for Global Real Estate Flows 160Real Estate Investment Trusts 164Singapore Colonising the World: Sovereign Wealth Funds 167Real Estate Investment into Singapore 170Property-minded People 172Casinos and Singapore as the World’s Wealth Management Centre 176Global Rent and Racism in the Real Estate Market 178Notes 1828 Financial Crises and Real Estate 183Financial Centres 186Singapore and Hong Kong as Financial Centres 187Nick Leeson and the Collapse of Barings 192The IMF in Singapore 195The Asian Crisis 197Bangkok and Real Estate Speculation 200Singapore and the Financial Crisis 204The Financialisation of Land and Derivative Rent 209Notes 2139 Conclusion: The Land, Urban and Rent Question 215The Regime of Regulating Public Land 215The Land Question 217The Urban Question 221The Rent Question 223Annex: Note on Data 227References 229Index 261