Fighting Over Land: America's Legacy . . . America's Future?
The ownership of private property has always been one of the defining characteristics of what it has meant to be an American. But as much as private property helps to define the very nature of what it means to be American, Americans also have continually fought over this idea. Private property for whom, to do what, and reflective of what other social concerns and values are as much issues today as they have been at any point in the last 250 years. After asserting that we all largely agree about the broad goals for land use, I explore four sets of reasons why property rights and land are so contentious in America. Looking to the future I do not foresee that social conflict over these matters will lessen, and I welcome the social dialogue we will have since it can help us to be clear about the meaning and structure of our democratic society. (Abstract)
This article appeared in the Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 65, No. 2, Spring 1999.
For copies of the full article, contact:
Peter Link
Managing Editor, JAPA
[email protected]
503-725-4087
To interview the author, contact:
Harvey M. Jacobs
Land Tenure Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1357 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53715
phone: 608-262-5537
fax: 608-262-2141
[email protected]
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