Planning initiative: Promoting development by the use of options in Amsterdam

The development of existing urban areas is needed to prevent urban sprawl. Several factors, including land assembly holdouts and the option value of land, contribute to landowners' lack of initiative to develop designated sites. Urban governance measures, however, may provide the necessary solutions. By implementing policies that promote inner-city development, i.e. by providing serviced plots for building development, urban expansion can be controlled to ensure that it does not result in a higher scarcity of land. This paper presents the case of Amsterdam, where policies ensure the timely securing of land appropriate for building and the use of option contracts to promote development. The results are discussed and their relevance to other contexts demonstrated.