Economic incentives for reducing the use of new land for urban growth

Simulation of a land development rights trading system with the participation of municipalities (Spiel.Raum)

Project period: 01.02.2007 - 30.4.2010

Historically, residential and commercial development and transport infrastructures have continually claimed new land in Germany. In an effort to address this environmental problem, there has been a search for some years now for sustainable strategies to reduce additional land use to lower levels - at the lowest possible overall cost. Various economic instruments that have been proposed range from taxes on new land use to a system of tradable certificates. The Spiel.Raum project is simulating the interaction between market participants and examining how tradable certificates act as incentives, how the system can be progressively refined, and how it differs from, for instance, emission certificates for carbon dioxide. The focus of this research will be on economic questions such as the efficiency of actual market performance and on analysing the behaviour of the 14 participating municipalities.

 

Further information is available on the project website .

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Contact Persons

  • Dr. Katrin Ostertag

    • Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research
    • Breslauer Straße 48
    • 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany
    • Telephone: +49 721 6809 116
    • Email Address: katrin.ostertag@isi.fraunhofer.de
    • Homepage: http://www.spielraum.isi.fraunhofer.de