Law Commons^™

China's Cities, Globalization, And Sustainable Development: Comparative Thoughts On Urban Planning, Energy, And Environmental Policy, Edward H. Ziegler

Edward H Ziegler

This article discusses the development of China’s modern cities and China’s emerging urban planning and growth management programs related to implementing its newly established sustainable development policies. Global sustainable development issues are discussed in the comparative context of future growth and urban development in the United States and China. Issues such as urban sprawl, density of the built environment, energy policy, automobile use, and transportation planning are examined in relation to future urban development and to their potential impact on future resource and energy consumption, and the critical issues of peak oil, global warming, and climate change.

The article notes …

Rural Rhetoric, Lisa Pruitt

Lisa R Pruitt

This Article investigates law’s constitutive rhetoric about rural people, places, and livelihoods. Specifically, it considers five categories of judicial opinions that discuss the legal relevance of rurality: judicial self-identification as rural; definitions of rural; line-drawing between rural and urban; taking judicial notice of rural characteristics; and idealized portrayals of the rural. Viewed together, these clusters of opinions reveal a comprehensive – if not entirely coherent – judicial portrait of rurality. They also provide an overview of the many instances when a rural setting is relevant to a legal outcome. Implicated are issues of tort, property, criminal, and constitutional law, among …

American Cities, Suburban Sprawl, And The Threat Of Terrorism, Edward H. Ziegler

Edward H Ziegler

This article explores Aristotle’s statement about politics shaping the design and form of the built environment in the context of urban planning, suburban sprawl, and the threat of terrorism in the United States. The article suggests that sprawl may be accelerated by the threat of terrorism in the United States and discusses sustainable development issues in the context of the terrorist threat to America’s urban places. The article explores how zoning and urban planning policies can make a difference in shaping the form and regional sustainability of our built environment and reduce our reliance on automobiles and foreign oil.

Land Titling: A Mode Of Privatization With The Potential To Deepen Democracy, Bernadette Atuahene

Bernadette Atuahene

Land titling is a form of privatization in that public assets are transferred to private families and individuals. This is unlike other forms of privatization, however, because there is a systematic diffusion of economic and decision making power down to indigent populations rather than out of the country or up to its local elites. In light of this uniqueness, the question I will grapple with in this Article is, can property ownership, achieved through land titling programs, bolster democracy? First, using Peru as an example, I explain the context that necessitated the creation of land titling and the process by …

Numerus Clausus: An Economic Perspective, Wei Zhang

Wei Zhang

No abstract provided.

Tomando La Propiedad En Serio: Las Expropiaciones Regulatorias O Indirectas, Enrique Pasquel

Enrique Pasquel

La mayoría de limitaciones a la propiedad se realizan a través de regulaciones, que pueden tener efectos tan nocivos como las expropiaciones físicas. Este trabajo explica los límites que deben tener las expropiaciones regulatorias.

Privaticemos Las Vicuñas: Cómo Eliminar El Peligro De Extinción Y Aprovechar Su Potencial Económico, Enrique Pasquel, Andrés Bayly

Enrique Pasquel

Si se establecieran derechos de propiedad sobre las vicuñas, se evitaría el peligro de extinción, se permitiría desarrollar el mercado de la lana más cara del mundo y se ayudaría a sacar de la pobreza a gran cantidad de gente. Este trabajo explica cómo las políticas de conservación de la vicuña han hecho lo contrario.

Home As A Legal Concept, Benjamin Barros

Benjamin Barros

This article, which is the first comprehensive discussion of the American legal concept of home, makes two major contributions. First, the article systematically examines how homes are treated more favorably than other types of property in a wide range of legal contexts, including criminal law and procedure, torts, privacy, landlord-tenant, debtor-creditor, family law, and income taxation. Second, the article considers the normative issue of whether this favorable treatment is justified. The article draws from material on the psychological concept of home and the cultural history of home throughout this analysis, providing insight into the interests at stake in various legal …

Beyond Worship: The Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act Of 2000 And Religious Institutions' Auxiliary Uses, Sara Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

Religious institutions have long offered their congregants services that go beyond worship. Particularly in the last two decades, they have begun expanding far beyond their traditional offerings to a wider and more diverse array of auxiliary uses - non-worship uses that are affiliated with a religious institution. (One type of large religious institution, the megachurch, is fast gaining members by offering schools, community centers, dining facilities, even movie theaters and gymnasiums.) Government has long granted special protections to the worship uses of religious institutions. A recent federal law - the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) …

Moving Toward Exclusive Tribal Autonomy Over Lands And Natural Resources, Stacy Leeds

Stacy Leeds

In order for tribal governments and individual American Indians to gain autonomy over their lands and natural resources, federal law must end the federal government’s trustee status over Indian lands. The General Allotment Act of 1887 was intended to accelerate the transfer of American Indians into mainstream American society by teaching them how to become self-sufficient through efficient land use. In turn, this would lessen the federal government’s need to supervise and protect American Indian interests. However, the allotment policy was never fully implemented, leaving the federal government with perpetual oversight of Indian lands. The federal government’s trustee role has …

An Empirical Look At Churches In The Zoning Process, Stephen Clowney

Stephen Clowney

Unintended Consequences: Eminent Domain And Affordable Housing, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow