MANAGING PUBLICLY OWNED LAND IN CANBERRA - RURAL TO URBAN CHANGE OF USE

All land in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is government owned , Prior to 1989, when the ACT became self-governing, the government de veloped land for urban use and auctioned leases for parcels of land fo r specified uses, Since then, leases for raw land have been auctioned for private development, to be completed within a specified time, A ca se study of a development where the ACT Government aimed to increase u rban densities shows that the result was a reduction in quality, In ad dition, the financial returns to the ACT Government were much lower th an if it had undertaken the development itself. Copyright (C) 1996 Els evier Science Ltd