Abstract
From a national perspective it is unclear whether the continued expansion of urban development seriously affects America's potential food production over the long run. Yet there are clearly regional biases toward conversion of farmland to urban uses and locally important changes in the appearance of the landscape at the rural—urban fringe. Urbanization also generates spillover effects causing the idling of farmland and the shifting from one type of agriculture to another.
Land use controls aimed at directly addressing the use of the land may be effective in preventing some conversion of farmland to urban uses but the methods are costly and possibly very complex. Incentives to farmers to keep land in agriculture are generally too weak to be effective in retaining agricultural land in the face of strong urban pressures.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Babcock, R. (1973), The Zoning Game. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Beale, Calvin (1976), “The Revival of Population Growth in Nonmetropolitan America,” ERS-605. Economics Research Service U.S.D.A.
Belden, Joe and Gregg Forte (y1967), Towards a National Food Policy, Exploratory Project In Economic Alternatives.
Bennett, Margaret (1976), Transfer of Development Rights; Promising but Unproven New Approach to Land Use Regulation. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
Berry, David (1975), “The Effect of Property Taxes on the Loss of Farmland: The Potential Effectiveness of Preferential Assessment.” Proceedings of the Middle States Division of the Association of American Geographers Meetings.
Berry, David (1976), “Idling of Farmland in the Philadelphia Region, 1930–1970.” Regional Science Research Institute Discussion Paper Series No. 88.
Berry, David and Gene Steiker (1977), “An Economic Analysis of Transfer of Development Rights,” Natural Resources Journal 17, January: 55–80.
Berry, David, Ernest Leonardo, and Kenneth Bieri (1976), “The Farmer's Response to Urbanzation: A Study of the Middle Atlantic States,” Regional Science Research Institute Discussion Paper No. 92.
Bosselman, Fred, David Callies, and John Banta (1973), The Taking Issue. Washington, D.C.: Council on Environmental Quality.
Bryant, William, and Howard Conklin (1975), “New Farmland Preservation Programs in New York,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 41.
California Office of Planning and Research (1974), Prime Agricultural Lands Report.
Ciriacy—Wantrup, S.V. (1964), “The ‘New’ Competition for Land and Some Implications For Public Policy,” Land Economics 40.
Conklin, Howard, and William Bryant (1974), “Agricultural Districts: A Compromise Approach to Agricultural Preservation,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 56, August: 607–613.
Conklin, Howard and Richard Dymsza (1972), Maintaining Viable Agriculture in Areas of Urban Expansion. New York State Office of Planning Services.
Costonis, John (1973), “Development Rights Transfer: An Exploratory Essay,” Yale Law Journal 83.
Coughlin, Robert E., (1977), Memo on Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission, RSRI.
Dideriksen, Ray (1976), “Potential Cropland: A Regional View,” Soil Conservation 42, December: 5–9.
Dideriksen, Ray, and R. Neil Sampson (1976), “Important Farmlands—A National Viewpoint,” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 31.
Fellmeth, R. (1973), The Politics of Land. New York: Grossman.
Foster, John (1976), Changes in Agricultural Land Use in Massachusetts, 1951–1971. Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, Amherst. Fred F. French Investing Co. v. City of New York, 350 NE 2d 381.
Gloudemans, Robert (1974), Use-Value Farmland Assessments, Theory, Practice, and Impact, Chicago: International Association of Assessing Officers.
Gowen, Max, and Robert McKenzie (1975), “Sunderland: Preserving Prime Agricultural Land,” in Lawrence Susskind, ed., The Land Use Controversy in Massachusetts, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Gustafson, Gregory, and L. Wallace (1975), “Differential Assessment as Land Use Policy: The California Case,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 41, November: 379–389.
Hady, Thomas, and Ann Gordon Sibold (1974), State Programs for the Differential Assessment of Farm and Open Space Land. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Economic Report No. 256, Economic Research Service.
Hansen, David, and Seymour Schwartz (1976), “Prime Land Preservation: The California Land Conservation Act,” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 31.
Harris, Curtis, and David Allee (1963), Urbanization and Its Effects on Agriculture in Sacramento County, California. California Agricultural Experiment Station.
Hart, John Fraser (1968), “Loss and Abandonment of Cleared Farmland in the Eastern United States,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 58.
Hart, John Fraser (1976), “Urban Encroachment on Rural Areas,” Geographical Review 66.
Helb, John, Budd Chavooshian, and George Nieswand (1976), Development Rights Bibliography. Cooperative Extension Service, Cook College, Rutgers University, Leaflet 533. Just v. Marinette County, 201 NW 2d 761.
Keene, John C., David Berry, Robert E. Coughlin, James Farnam, Eric Kelly, Thomas Plaut, and Ann Louise Strong (1976), Untaxing Open Space, Washington, D.C.: Council on Environmental Quality.
Locken, Gordon (1976), Alternative Methods of Estimating the Use-Value of Farmland in New York. Unpublished Masters Thesis, Cornell University.
MacConnell, William (1975), Remote Sensing 20 Years of Change in Massachusetts, 1951–1971. Massachusetts Agricultural Research Station, Amherst.
Miner, Dallas (1976), Farmland Retention in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Myers, Phyllis (1976), Zoning Hawaii, Washington, D.C.: Conservation Foundation.
Nieswand, George et al (1976), Transfer of Development Rights: A Demonstration Cook College—Rutgers University Extension Bulletin 419.
Pasour, E. C. (1975), The Capitalization of Real Property Taxes Levied on Farm Real Estate. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 57. Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon etal., 260 U.S. 393.
Plaut, Thomas (1976), “The Effects of Urbanization on the Loss of Farmland at the Rural-Urban Fringe: A National and Regional Perspective.” Regional Science Research Institute Discussion Paper Series No. 94.
Plaut, Thomas (1977), “The Real Property Tax, Differential Assessment, and the Loss of Farmland on the Rural-Urban Fringe.” Regional Science Research Institute Discussion Paper Series No. 97.
Raup, Philip (1976), “What is Prime Land?” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 31, Sept/Oct.
Saskatchewan Land Bank Commission. 1973–1976. Annual Reports.
Schneider, Stephen with Lynn Mesirow (1976), The Genesis Strategy. New York: Plenum.
Strong, Ann Louise (1975), Private Property and the Public Interest: The Brandywine Experience. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.
U.S.D. A. Committee on Land Use (1975), Perspectives on Prime Lands: Background Papers for Seminar on Retention of Prime Lands.
U.S.D.A., Economic Research Service (1974), Our Land and Water Resources: Current and Prospective Supplies and Uses. Miscellaneous Publication No. 1290.
Vining, Daniel R. and Anne Strauss (1976), “A Demonstration That Current Deconcentration Trends Are A Clean Break With Past Trends,” Regional Science Research Institute Discussion Paper No. 90.
Vogeler, Ingolf (1976), “The Effectiveness of Differential Assessment of Farmland in the Chicago Metropolitan Area.” Department of Local Government Affairs, Office of Research and Planning, State of Illinois.
Woodbury, Steven (1975), “Transfer of Development Rights: A New Tool for Planners},” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 41, January.
Zeimetz, Kathryn A., Elizabeth Dillon, Ernest E. Hardy and Robert C. Otte (1976), “Dynamics of Land Use in Fast Growth Areas.” Agricultural Economics Report No. 325. Economic Research Service. U.S.D.A.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (Research Applied to National Needs) to the Regional Science Research Institute.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berry, D., Plaut, T. Retaining agricultural activities under urban pressures: A review of land use conflicts and policies. Policy Sci 9, 153–178 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00143740
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00143740