(Papers to be published in George Mason Law Review)
One or more additional presenters will be selected from a call for papers.
In recent decades, many approaches to the development and redevelopment of cities have been tried. While these range from small free- market construction to massive government projects, states and localities recently have favored various forms of public-private partnerships. Some development efforts have been integrated with massive transportation infrastructure projects, often with the idea of furthering sustainable development. Downtown entertainment districts have been the core of some efforts. Large private projects often have benefited from the assembly of small parcels through extensive condemnation. And, business improvement districts often have played a prominent role in the operations of urban projects.
The financing of projects also has taken various forms, including government ownership and leasing to commercial operators, extensive direct subsidies, and tax increment financing. Large, mixed-use projects typically involve complex financing arrangements as well as intricate structures of fee ownership, leasing, and easements. These require the attention of sophisticated transactional lawyers.
Our joint program will consider new approaches to the spatial organization of urban areas, and financing of urban development after the Great Recession. The extended joint program will consist of two panels. The first panel will explore the physical organization of cities, including high-density, laissez-faire, insights from agglomeration economics, and views favoring and disfavoring mandatory densification of residential neighborhoods.
The second panel will consider methods of financing urban development after the Great Recession. These include renewed requirement for substantial down payments and residential construction that is not federally insured or subsidized, new privately financed and lightly regulated neighborhoods, and alternatives for affordable housing finance in an era of government retrenchment.
The Section on Property Law and the Section on Real Estate Transactions will issue a joint call for papers that advances the program theme. Authors of selected papers will be invited to present their work at the program and will have their papers published in the George Mason Law Review.
Business Meeting of Property Law at Program Conclusion.
Business Meeting of Real Estate Transactions at Program Conclusion.