Taking Land

Book excerpt: The Asia-Pacific region with its rapid urbanization has generated an immediate need for both land use control and compulsory purchase by national and local governments. This book takes a comparative look at land use laws in ten Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand) as well as in the United States. A land use scholar from each country describes and analyzes compulsory land acquisition and the means through which property owners can seek compensation when government regulations or policies become so burdensome that they approach the effect of compulsory purchase. The book's major themes are land use control and eminent domain (compulsory purchase). Contributors examine land use control by focusing on land ownership, statutory framework, land use plans and planning, zoning, building regulations, courts and common law, and regulatory taking among the eleven countries. Sections on eminent domain cover the right of government to take or reclaim private property. General topics discussed include the source of authority (often a country's constitution), the public purpose and the extent of power, compensation, due process, the importance of plans, the effect of a "colonial" legal system, and the accommodation of indigenous peoples' land rights. With the publication of this volume, legal scholars and practicing land use lawyers will be able to analyze and compare for the first time the individual legal approaches of developed and developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Contributors: David L. Callies, Li-Fu Chen, Anton Cooray, Glenys Godlovitch, Tsuyoshi Kotaka, Murray J. Raff, William J. M. Ricquier, Eathipol Srisawaluck, Won Woo Suh, Grace Xavier, Zhen Xian Bin.