The Pinelands Development Credit Program

The “Pine Barrens” are a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve encompassing about 1.1 million acres in southern New Jersey. A state agency, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, in conjunction with county and local governments, works to implement land management and environmental protection goals via a comprehensive management plan. The pinelands development credit (PDC) program is one tool aimed specifically at land preservation outcomes. The PDC program is a regional “transfer of development rights” market allowing landowners to sell their rights to further develop their property and enter their land into permanent protected status. Since the program’s inception in 1982, over 55,000 acres of sensitive and rare ecosystem have been protected; the more than 1,200 transactions account for US$63 M of economic value. The PDC program is a clear illustration of the role that financial instruments and market mechanisms can play in achieving environmental protection outcomes. This case study offers an overview of the pinelands area, PDC program, and the transfer of development rights concept before examining the PDC program and its outcomes in greater detail. While the program has been hailed as a success, it will face challenges in the coming years, including a relatively inefficient process for converting PDCs into protected lands and the question of how the program can evolve once eligible lands become more scarce.

Transfer of Development Rights and Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Case Study at Athens Historic Triangle, Greece

History and the modern world co-exist in Greece’s landscape. The urban spaces of Greek cities contain structures from ancient history alongside contemporary constructions, but intense urban development from the 1960s onwards, as in the historic center of Athens, has led to imbalances with respect to cultural heritage protection. The 1975 Greek Constitution defined the preservation and protection of the cultural environment as a constitutional mandate, and severe restrictions on the exploitation of private properties deemed to be of historical or architectural importance were imposed. Property owners were deprived of their property development rights (DRs), whereas the preservation and conservation of protected constructions became costly, resulting in abandoned buildings and a downgraded urban environment. As the debate over cultural heritage protection and urban regeneration is more topical than ever, the recent legal reintroduction of the transfer of development rights (TDRs) provides new opportunities for property exploitation with respect to cultural heritage protection legislation. Herein is presented a methodological framework on the classification and 3D visualization and representation of DRs and TDRs in relation to the cultural heritage protective framework and its implementation in a selected area of Athens’ historic center. Legal and technical aspects that affect 3D DRs and TDRs are emphasized as key elements in the successful implementation of the TDR process.

The Pinelands Development Credit Program

The “Pine Barrens” are a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve encompassing about 1.1 million acres in southern New Jersey. A state agency, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, in conjunction with county and local governments, works to implement land management and environmental protection goals via a comprehensive management plan. The pinelands development credit (PDC) program is one tool aimed specifically at land preservation outcomes. The PDC program is a regional “transfer of development rights” market allowing landowners to sell their rights to further develop their property and enter their land into permanent protected status. Since the program’s inception in 1982, over 55,000 acres of sensitive and rare ecosystem have been protected; the more than 1,200 transactions account for US$63 M of economic value. The PDC program is a clear illustration of the role that financial instruments and market mechanisms can play in achieving environmental protection outcomes. This case study offers an overview of the pinelands area, PDC program, and the transfer of development rights concept before examining the PDC program and its outcomes in greater detail. While the program has been hailed as a success, it will face challenges in the coming years, including a relatively inefficient process for converting PDCs into protected lands and the question of how the program can evolve once eligible lands become more scarce.