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Treballs de la SocietatCatalana de Geografía - N° 35 - vol. VIII The effects of the nonmarket urban land use system in Eastern Europe: the case of Belgrade Boris BEGOVIé Centrefor Economic Studies MECON, Belgrade Bosko MUATOVIé The Economic Institute, Belgrade 1. Introduction The politicalchanges which took place inthe late 1980sin EasternEuropecleared the wayforthe radicalreforms oftheeconomies ofthese countries, takingthem from acom mand (planned) to the market system. Although the general strategy of such a transition is clear, there are many distinctive waysto apply the general strategy. The choice varies from countrytocountryandfrom onesegmentoftheeconomy toanother. Acrucial pre requisite formaking thecorrectchoice ofaparticularstrategy isknowledgeofthecurrent (previous) nonmarket system, its features and how it worked. An appropriate diagnosis of the current (previous) system and its effects can be solid ground for the formulation ofasound transitionstrategy.Therefore, considerableeffort has been put intoananalysis of the nonmarket economic system and its various segments. Nonetheless, one of the segments of the economic system which has not been widely studied until nowisurbanland use systeminEastern Europe. Hence, the intention ofthis paper.isto examine the crucial features of the nonmarket urban land use systemand to analyze its effects on urban development. This will be done using the case of Belgrade as a representative Eastern European city. Accordingly, the institutional framework and the crucial features of the current (nonmarket) urban land use system will be analyzed. Itseconomicand financial effectsaswellasitsimpact onurbandevelopment willbe sur veyedand evaluated. Such a procedure will hopefully provide a solid basis from which toconsiderthereform ofthenonmarketurban landuse systeminEasternEuropeancities. 7 2. Theinstitutionalframeworkofthe nonmarketurbanlandusesystem ¡ The economic systemwhichexistedinYugoslaviabeforethe 1991civilwarwassimilar to the Soviet economic system. The crucial features of such a socialist system were: a) the monopoly of public ownership of virtually all assets and wealth; b) a nonexisting market; Le. no market allocation ofeither production factors or goods; e) administrative (command) allocation of both production factors andgoods. At the core of Yugoslaveconomic systemwaspublic ownership, called «socialowner ship»according to Yugoslavlegal terminology. Social (public) ownership dominated the major industries (the manufacturing industry, transportation, commerce, banking, insu rance, etc.) aswellasnationalwealth(urbanland, etc.). There werejustafewcaseswhe rethismonopolydidnotapply,soprivateownershipwasallowedonIyinagriculture (agri culturallandup to 10ha) andinthe smalltrade and technical services sector (firms with up to five employees). Nonetheless, the Yugoslaveconomic system(also known as socialist selfmanagement) had several distinctive features setting it apart from the Sovietsystem.' The first feature wasthesocialownershipsystemwhich, contrary totheSovietstateownershipsystem,was characterized by the absence of a recognized property owner and well defined property rights. Hence, socially owned assets or wealth did not belong to anyone specific (either tothe Stateor tothe employees), butbelong to society.This rather nebulous concept has eliminated arecognized owner(withrelatedpropertyrights) ofthevastmajority ofassets and wealth. The concept ofsocial ownership wasdeveloped in compliance with the idea thatpropertyrightsarenotimportant foreconomic performance(efficiency),butonIyfor the distributionofretums (earnings). The basic idea ofthe architects ofthe system(Kar delj (1971)) was to abolish every type of proper ownership, thereby abolishing all revenues based on ownership (non-labor revenues).2 The seconddistinction wasthatthemarket wasnotreplaced byacentral planbodybut, inthelast twentyyearsatleast, bytheconcept of«socialbargaining», wherebyallocation resultedfromasystem,inwhichthenumerous parties concernedwouldnegotiateandset tleall important economic issues (supply,prices, wages, etc.) through relevantinstitutio nal mechanisms. The architects ofthe systemconsidered that social bargaining wouldlead to the settle ment of all conflicts based on partial interests. Since there was no production factor market allocation, there was no labor or capital market (stockexchange), no securities (capitalwasimmobile), employedlabor could not be fired (lose their jobs), wageswere determined exogenously,and interest rates (which werefixedbythe state)werethe sameatallbanks and alwayslowerthan inflation (hence there were no earnings from capital). Contrary to the Soviet system, there wasa goods market in ex-Yugoslavia, although it wasnot quite similar tothe goodsmarkets inWesterncountries. It wascarteled andpro tected from foreigncompetition andmarketinformation wasnot crucial fordecision ma king in firms. 8 Although there is controversy as to whether such a system provided dynamic growth in its early phase,? there is consensus that the system as such did not provide economic efficiency: there was no way for the efficientallocation of resources. Maximizing wages wasthe goalofthe self-managementfirms, sosuch firms characterizedadistortionalreac tion to the changing conditions on the market. Furthermore, the benevolent socialist go vernmentmadethe budgetconstraintofself-managedfirms very softbymeansofa gene rouscreditandsubsidypolicy.Theresultwasapathy,mismanagement,inefficiency,inflation, unemployment, zero growth and big structural debalances. Thefeatures ofthegeneraleconomicsystemdeterminedtheinstitutionsand mechanisms ofthe urbanland use system: the monopolyofpublic ownershipand the lackofa market allocation of resources. 3. Tbefeatures andmechanismsofthe nonmarketurbanlanduse system Thereisamonopolyofpublicurbanlandownership, known in Belgradeas «social lan downership», The actuallandowneris the municipal (city) authority. This monopoly was establishedbythe nationalization of urbanland which was completed in 1958.4 As there is a monopoly of public urban landownership there can be no trading and other related transactions conceming urban land. Since the urban land trade is not feasible, the necessary condition for the existence of anurbanlandmarketismissing. Hence, thereare no markettransactions, no marketland price, or marketrentoThe nonexistenceofan urbanlandmarketimpliesthereis no mar ket allocation of urban land, but only administrative allocation. Sincethere isa monopoly ofpublicurbanlandownership, privatelyownedagricultural land on the urban fringe is transformed into publicly owned urban land by compulsory purchase. This compulsorypurchaseisappliedinall cases, regardlessoffuture (planned) landuse. Acompensationispaidtothepreviousownerand the levelofthis compensation isarbitrarily(unilaterally)determinedbythe municipalauthority. Ithas nothingtodo with the marketvalue (price)ofagiven plotofland(the compensationforasq.met. ofpurcha sed land equals 0,5% of the average price of a sq.met. social housing floor space). As the city grows, allplots oflandontheurbanfringe are transferredtopublic landownership. Theessenceofthe administrativeallocationistodonateurbanlandtodevelopersand/or users. Theplot ofurbanland isstillpubliclyowned,butthedeveloperand/oruserisgiven the rightto develop this plot and to retain the building in his ownership. This regulation is somewhatsimilartothe institutionoflandleaseholdin marketeconomies, with the ex ception of two points: a) unlike a leasehold arrangement the urban land donation is not restricted in time, Le. no expiration date is specified up to which time the plot ofland can be used; b) no market rent is paid by the developer/user. Furthermore, the right to developaplot ofdonatedurbanlandis nontransferable. Hencedevelopmenthas tobe ca rried out by the selected developer/user. Urbanlanddonation isbasedon the discriminatory right ofthe local authorities to se lectpotentialusersaccordingtoarbitrarilyestablishedcriteria. AlIpotentialusers(private 9 housing as well as socially owned companies) apply to the municipal authorities for the urbanlanddonation. Theprocedureto selectauserisnot strictlydefined, soapplications are evaluated according to arbitrarily established (even ad hoc) criteria..The municipal authorities can refuse any application without giving reasons for doing so. Three fees are paidby the developers/users ofthe urban land. An urbanland donation fee is paidas apremiumto the municipalauthoritybythe developer/userbeforedevelop ment begins. This fee is calculated according to the blueprint floor space. The amount ofthe feeisdeterminedbydecisionofthe municipalauthorityand this amountisdifferen tiatedaccordingtothe locationandplannedlanduse. The level ofthe urbanlanddonation feecan bechangedunilaterallybythe municipalauthorityat anytimeand byany amount, butnowadays it is usuallychangedonce ayear. The amountofthis fee usually comprises 8-10% of the total property investment (development costs). An urban land servicing fee is also paid as a premium to the municipal authority by the developer/userbeforedevelopmentbegins. Urbanland servicingincludessite clearing (only in the caseofredevelopment) and providingthe on-siteinfrastructure, whichinclu des connectionstothe watersupply, sewage, powersupply and gas supplynetworks, hea ting system and telecornmunications. This feeequals the actual land servicing costs of a givenlocation, sothe average fee (amountoffeepergroundsq. met.) variesconsiderably from location to location. The amount of this fee usually comprises 35-45%ofthe total investment. An urban land use fee is paid regularly (monthly) by the user of a givenplot of urban land (location). Thisfee is calculatedaccordingto the floor space. Theamountof the fee is determined by the municipal authority and is differentiated according to the location and the actualor plannedlanduse. Theamountofthe urbanlanduse feecan also be chan ged unilaterallybythe municipal authority's decisionat any timeand by any amount, but nowadays it is usually changed quarterly. For many years the levelofthe urban land use fee has been virtually negligible." AlIthe financial resources obtainedthroughthe paymentofsuchfees are usedto finan ce infrastructureinvestmentsrelatedtourbandevelopment, Le. urbanutilitiessupply(wa ter supply and sewage, power and gas supply, the heating system, public transportation and telecommunications)and tofinancethe supplyofurbanpublicutilities(roads, streets, pavements, pathways, parks, etc.). Theinvestments relatedtourbanutilities cannotbe fi nancedfrom marketrevenues sincethe pricesoftheseutilities havebeendistorteddown wards as the result of a policy prescribing that prices should cover operating costs only, Thereforetheseinvestmentsmustbe financedexternally. On the otherhand, the character of public urban utilities is such that their supply and development must be financed ex temally. 4. The economic and financial effects of the nonmarket urban land use system Themost significanteffectofthe nonmarketurbanlanduse system is thatthere are no market land prices, or market rents. As the existence of competitive market prices is a 10 necessary conditionfor the efficient allocation ofurban land as a resource (changing the parterooflandusefrom lowertohigher valueuse), theglobaluseofurbanland inBelgra deisinefficient. Therearetwobasic inefficiencies: thephysicalinefficiency ofurban land use and its economic inefficiency. There are also two cases where both types of ineffi ciency occur: inefficiency in new development and/or redevelopment and inefficiency in theuseofurbanlandbytheactualoccupants (users). Anexamination ofallcases ofineffi ciency follows. Physical inefficiency in the case of new development results from the urban fact that theland donationfeeisanextremely downwarddistorted surrogateofthe urbanlandpri ce. It is reasonable to estimate that the market price would be much higher, particularly inthecitycenter.Arelativelylowurbanlanddonationfeeisnotanincentiveforthephysical efficiency ofland use, so a relatively low floor-to-ground index and low densities result from this distortion. Furthermore, the urban land donation feeis calculatedaccording to the blueprint floor space, not he ground (land) space. Such a method of fee calculation means that there is no incentive whatsoever for the efficient physical use of urban land (ground). Hence, the averagecost (amount ofthe feeper floor sq. met.) is constant and financially itisallthe sametothedeveloper/userwhetherasingle flor or ahundredfloor building is constructed on a given location. Economic inefficiency in the case of new development is a direct consequence of the absence of a urban land market. If there were a market there would be competition for a plot of land at a given location, so that the location would be used by the prospective user who offered the highest bid, Le. the user to whom a given plot of land is the most valuable.Sinceefficientallocationrequiresthatresources (urbanlandinthiscase)bechan neled to their highest valueuse, agiven plot ofland would be used efficiently. However, the actual nonmarket, noncompetitive manner ofselecting the users bythe local authori ties offersno guaranteeofeconomicefficiencyinthe case ofdevelopment and or/redeve lopment. Physical inefficiency by the actual occupants is encouraged by the negligible level of theurban land use feewhich theyhavetopayo The actuallocationusers donotpayamar ket rent which, it is reasonable to expect, would be far higher than the urban land use fee. Hence this fee is a negligible expenditure for the occupants..That is why the ineffi cientusers ofspacecharacterizedbylowdensities, suchasmanufacturingindustryplants, etc., are not encouragedto leavethe best and otherwisethe most expensive locations, so theyhaveretained them. Furthermore, theurban land use feeisalso calculatedaccording tofloor space, notground (land) space.Suchamethodoffeecalculationimplies thatthere isnoincentive for the physically efficientuse ofurban land (ground) becausethe average cost (the amountofthe feeper sq. met.) isconstant regardless ofthe floor to ground in dex. This arrangementis the reason whythere are still worthless ground floor buildings in the very center of Belgrade. Economicinefficiencybytheactualoccupantsistheconsequenceofphysicalinefficiency. Thereason Hesinthefactthatphysicallyinefficientusers ofspace, suchasthemanufactu ring industries, the building industry, etc., thathaveretained theirlocations are economi cally inefficienturbanland users. Ithasbeen demonstratedthat these industrieswhen10 catedinbigcitiesarerelativelyinefficientcomparedtothesameindustries locatedinsmall 11 cities. On the otherhand, serviceindustrieslocatedinbig citiesaremoreefficientcompa red to thoselocated in small cities." Hence, the restructuring process that leads to increa sing the economicefficiencyofacity isimpededbythe nonmarketurbanlanduse system. Since the regulations governing the allocation of a site do not include any time limit for land use, there is no solid basis for the land user's financial calculation, especially the calculationofnetpresentvalues. Furthermore, sinceurbanlanduse fee can be chan ged unilaterally at any time by the municipal authority's decision the developer/investor cannotcontrolthe costswhichcomprisethe amountofthe urbanland servicingfee. This implies that an investment project which is profitable according to the current fee level, can become unprofitable according to sorne future fee level, EvidentIy such an arrange ment discourages property investment.? Moreover, such arrangementsforurbanlandallocationimplythatmunicipalauthorities are empoweredtowithdrawthe righttouse alocationat anytime, meaningthatthe actual usercan be evictedfromthe locationatanytime. Thisincreasesthe uncertaintyforpoten tial users/investors which discourages property investment. On the other hand, a lower levelofinvestmentdiminishesthe potentialfor economicrestructuringwhichleads toper petuating the inefficient economic structure of cities. As there is a monopoly of public urban landowership, it is not possible for potential urban land investors to invest vast financial resources. This is why significant potential investorssuchaspensionfunds, insurancecompaniesand otherfinancial institutionscan not invest in land and real property, thus inducing a decline in property investment. Fur thermore, the nonexistenceof an urban landmarketaccounts for the nonexistence of nu merous financial mechanisms that are cornmon in free market systems (mortgage loans, property bonds, property companies' shares, etc). Accordingly, the concentration of fi nancial capital for funding real property investments has been slow and inefficient, Le. capitalisnot mobile. This has resultedin aconstantshortageoffinancial resourceswhich in turn reduces property investment activities. The currenturban land use system (as well as the legal system) is rather vague and is inconsistentwiththeurbanlanduse system inmarketeconomies. Hence, potentialforeign property investors are amply discouragedto invest. This accounts for a further reduction in property investment and a further delay in the internationalization of the economy. Thus, itisevidentthatthe currenturbanlanduse system in Belgradeshowsavery poor performance in the domainof economic efficiency. Furthermore, the nonmarketurbanlanduse system has resultedinthe poorperforman ce ofthe municipaland localauthorities' financing. As the system is nonmarketthereare • no urbanlandmarketprices or marketrents. It is reasonableto expectthatmarketprices and rents would be muchhigherthan the currenturbanlanddonationand urbanlanduse fees. Hence, if there were an urban land market prices, municipal and local au thority revenues from urban land sales and rents would bemuch higher. As there is monopoly of public urban landownership there is no solidbasis for urban land taxation. One could reasonably assume that municipal and local authority revenues 12 from thetaxationofprivately ownedurbanland wouldbeconsiderable. Hence, themono polyofpublicurbanlandownershipandthenonexistenceofanurbanlandmarketandmarket prices leads to a poor performance in the realm of the municipal and local authorities' financing, as revenues are considerably smaller than what they could be potentially. In addition, the municipal authorities' financing policyhas induced afurther reduction in local revenues. FirstIy,feeshavenot been properly indexedto the high inflation rates. For example, during 1987the averagemonthIy feeindexation was3%,while the average monthly inflation rate was 10%, in real terms, revenues were significantIy reduced. Mo reover, asthere werenoconstrains, urbanland users/occupants were encouragedtopost ponepaymenttheurban landusefee.This wasacomponentofthepolicyaimed atdecrea singthetaxburdenoftheenterprisesandthohelptheminthetroublesometimesofeconomic crisis. An «informal»practice existed of writing off the debts of socially owned firms where the urban land feeswere concerned. This actually meant that these firms evadedfeepay ments.SuchapolicywasappliedveryfrequentIyinthecaseofbiglossmakerswhichusua11y employ ahuge labor force."All these elements haveled to afurther reduction inmunici pal and local revenues. VeryfrequentIy this reduction is so vastthat the revenues are not sufficient to finance land servicing and provide public urban utilities. These deficits are dealt with by borrowing money from clearing (commercial) banks. 5. The effects of the nonmarket urban land use system on urban development Urban development in Belgrade is affected in sorne cases directIy, but in many more, indirectIy astheresultofthenonmarketurbanlanduse system.Oneofthemostimportant effects is that there is no conventional central business district in Belgrade. This is due to the negligible urban land use fee. It has already been pointed out that such afee level haspersistentIy encouraged thephysicallyandeconomicallyinefficient useofurban land. Thus lowdensity housingstillexistintheverycenterofBelgrade. Asthere isnoincentive fortenants torelocate (duetonegligiblehousing costs)itisnotpossible for.business(offi ce space, retail, etc.)tobehighIyconcentratedinthe very center ofBelgrade. Hence, the process of urban redevelopment is strongly discouraged. As it has been pointed out, the urban land donation fee and the urban land use fee are virtuallyidentical foralllocations. However,theurban land servicing feeequalstheactual land servicing costs at a givenlocation. Hence in the case ofredevelopment all the costs ofclearingthelocation shouldbepaid bythe investor/developer. These costs are highbe cause appropriate accornmodation (new houses or flats) must be provided for all the te nants located inthebuilding due fordemolition. Furthermore, the whole operationofde molition, clearingthesiteandfindingappropriateaccornmodationfortenantsisexclusively carried out by the municipal authority, so there can be no cost control by the investor. Therefore, potential investors are discouraged to invest in redevelopment. These obstacles toredevelopment haveresulted inthe concentrationofdevelopment on the urban fringes and so Belgrade's urban development tends towards an urban spraw1. 13 Such apatternofurbandevelopmenthasbroughtonareductioninglobal urbandensities, whichintumrequireinvestmentinlong urban infrastructurelines (roads, pipelines, etc). Furthermore, the reductioninglobal densitiesgivesrise tothe need forvariousurbanuti lities (public transportation, etc). Such apatternofinvestment has reducedthe economic efficiency in providing all urban utilities. An additional factor in such a tendency towardsurban sprawl is apersistentexcess de mand for housing and office space. This excess demand is also one of the results of the actual nonmarket urbanland use system. Namely, one may sayit is reasonable to expect that market land rent would be much higher than the urba~ land use fee. This means that the cost ofliving has been significantly reduced. According to the re sults ofa theoretical considerationofinternal migrations,?these costs are a significant ge neratorofmigrations. The lowerthecost ofliving inagivencity,thelargerthepopulation migration will be towards that city. Hence the low cost ofliving in Belgrade.índucedby the nonmarket system have significantly influenced a large migrational flow toward Bel grade. Such a flow has created a high growth rate ofBelgrade's urban population, hence the excess demand for housing and office space. 6. Conclusion The nonmarketurbanland use systeminBelgradederives from the socialistnonmarket economicsystem. The essenceofsuch asystemisthe monopolyofpublic ownershipover assets and resources, and the administrative (nonmarket) allocation of these resources. The institutions and mechanisms ofthe nonmarketurbanland use system are very dis tinctive from the institutions ofamarketsystem. They correspondto administrative allo cation and are based on the discriminatory rights ofthe municipal and local authorities. There are no market prices or rents, rather unilaterally determined urban land fees. The economiceffectsofsuch asystemarevery poor. The crucialeffectisthephysically and economicallyinefficientuse ofurbanland. Suchinefficiency has asignificantimpact on the general economic inefficiency ofa socialisteconomy. Additionally, the nonmarket systemhas causeda significantreduction.inreal property investmentas well as in global investment activity. This leads to adeteriorationofthe prospects for economic restructu ring, particularly with respect to industries located in cities. The financial performance of this system is also poor, as there is a perpetual deficit in the municipal budget. The nonmarketurbanlanduse systemhashad adverse consequencesonurbandevelop ment inBelgrade: urban developmenthas astrong tendency towardsurbansprawl andur ban redevelopmentis neglected, which implies a further reduction in the urban land use eficiency.Apropercentralbusinessdistricthas notbeen established. Due tothe relatively lowcost ofliving, ahugeimmigrationhas taken place, which has inturnactivated ahigh population growth rate, which led to the deterioration of the quality of life. .The overallperformanceofthe nonmarketurbanlanduse systeminBelgradehasthere fore been evaluated as very poor. This is the result of the essence of the current urban 14 landusesystem:themonopolyofthepublicurbanlandownershipandadministrative(non market)allocationoftheland. Thatiswhysuchasystemcannotbesuccessfullymodified. It should be replaced by a market urban land use system. Notes 1 Afruitful analysis ofthe Yugoslaveconomic system,itsorigin and its distinctions compared totheSoviet systemhas been given byProut (1985). 2 Thisisconsistentwiththepremisesofcommunistideology(basedonMarx'svaluetheory)thatonlyrevenues based on the employment oflabor are sociallyjustified. 3 See Madzar (1990)and Milanovié (1991) forthe discussion. 4 AccordingtotheUrban Land Nationalization Act,althoughnationalizationofthevastmajority ofproperty rights wasdone bya Federal decree in 1945. 5 ItcanbearguedthatfeeisessentiallyrentoHowever,itshouldbetakenintoaccountthatnofreewillofusers hasbeenrevealed,nocontracthasbeenestablished,norentrevisionprocedurehasbeenagreedupon.Accor dingly,this feecannot be labeled rento 6 For the empiricalevidence which support this thesis inthe case ofYugoslaviasee Begovié(1991a). 7 Itcanbearguedthatcyclicaltendenciesontherealproperty marketsinWestemcountries havethesameef fects.However,itshouldbepointedoutthatmarketpricefluctuations canbepredicted, atleastinprincipal, while the behavior ofthe stateis rather unpredictable. 8 This isconsistent with thejob preservation policy,very popular in all communistcountries. 9 For a good reviewofthese considerations see Greenwood(1985). References BALCHIN, P.N., KIEVE, 1.L. andBULL, G.H. 1988: UrbanLandEconomicsand Pu blic Policy. London: Macmillan BEGOVlé, B.1991a: TheEconomicApproach tothe OptimalCitySize, Progress inPlan ning. Oxford: Pergamon Press BEGOVlé, B. 1991b: The Reformofthe Urban Land Use Systemin Belgrade, Lisbon: Paper presented at the 31st. RSA European Congress BEGOVlé, B. and MIJATOVlé, B. 1992:The Introduction ofthe Market in the Urban Land Use System. Disp, Vol.28: 3-17 Departament ofEnvironment. 1988: UrbanLandMarkets in the United Kingdom. Lon don: Her Majesty's Stationary Office GREENWOOD.M. 1.1985:HumanMigration: Theory, Models, and Empirical Studies, Journal ofRegional Science, Vol.25: 521-544 KARDELJ,E. 1971: Slobodan udruzeni rad(FreeAssociatedLabor). Beograd:Radnicka stampa MADZAR, Lj. 1990: Suton socijalistickihprivreda(The Dusk ofSocialistEconomies). Beograd: Ekonomika MILANOVlé, B. 1991:Prikaz knjige Suton socijalistickih privreda (The Book Review of The Dusk of Socialist Economies), Ekonomska analiza, Vol. 25: 431-439 OECD, Project Group on Urban Markets. 1990:FinalReporton Urban Markets. Paris: OECD PROUT, C. 1985: Market Socialism in Yugoslavia, New York:Oxford University Press 15

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