Local Government does matter: How local taxation increases urban sprawl: the case Of Groane Regional Park (co-authored) (original) (raw)

2013, At Home in the Housing Market: RC43 Conference Book of Proceedings

The analysis of territorial phenomena usually bypasses the role of local political entities as crucial decision-makers and market regulators, focusing instead on the role of developers and housing preferences of home-buyers. In contrast, this article suggests that local administrative units are crucial agents in defining and shaping the processes of urban development at a larger scale. In this article It is argued that, when a given local government is allowed to subsist mainly on local taxation, a fiscal crisis of local government units is a determinant factor of urban growth, as each administration tries to fuel up urban expansion, in the hopes of boosting the local tax base. By employing a multi-method approach, we have ascertained that other characteristics traditionally associated with urban sprawling were not present in the area of Milan, so it has been identified as a least likely case to experience urban dispersion. In this context, we concentrate mainly on the Groane Regional Park. The aim of article is to re--‐focus on the local administrations as powerful agents that shape metropolitan scale urban development.