Co-authors
Dr. Jinshuo Wang (Israel Institute of Technology, Israel); Dr. Guibo Sun (Department of Planning, Property and Environmental Management, The University of Manchester, UK)

Research description
This study provides compelling evidence that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights increases transaction costs in China's transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. Ambiguous property rights and unsupportive institutional arrangements in land development processes result in development sites far from metro stations, housing adjacent to industrial areas, and oversized commercial spaces on urban fringes. This study extended the debates of ambiguous land property rights to the public-owned land realm, and showed that ambiguity in -owned land property rights is rooted in China's historical and institutional contexts, driving high transaction costs in land development and undermining urban infrastructure development.