Markets for Development Rights: Lessons Learned from Three Decades of a TDR Program

Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 12-49

25 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2013

See all articles by Margaret Walls

Margaret Walls

Resources for the Future - Quality of the Environment Division

Date Written: December 6, 2012

Abstract

Transferable development rights (TDRs) are a market-based approach to land conservation. They allow the development rights from one property to be transferred to another, with the first “sending” property placed under a development restriction or conservation easement and the “receiving” property permitted more dense development than would otherwise be allowed by baseline zoning regulations. This paper summarizes the economics literature on TDRs and describes a long-running program in a county in Maryland, one of the few programs with an active TDR market. It updates previously published results from the program and describes some problems that have arisen in recent years as the program has matured. The paper offers some observations as to why these problems have occurred and suggestions for other communities considering TDR programs.

Keywords: TDRs, zoning, sprawl, farmland preservation, easements

JEL Classification: Q24, Q28, Q15, R14

Suggested Citation

Walls, Margaret, Markets for Development Rights: Lessons Learned from Three Decades of a TDR Program (December 6, 2012). Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 12-49, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2197996 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2197996

Margaret Walls (Contact Author)

Resources for the Future - Quality of the Environment Division ( email )

1616 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
91
Abstract Views
672
Rank
509,542
PlumX Metrics