Economic Development And Environmental Control

Unlike many who separate environmental from other social issues in their analyses of the locally unwanted land use (LULU) problem, O'Looney argues that the issues are really connected and must be addressed jointly. He frames the question this way: What is the appropriate distribution of land development rights and responsibilities overall?, then offers an answer based on Madison's conception of property and Jefferson's ideas about small-scale democracy.

In doing so O'Looney examines the ideological roots of the NIMBY-LULU problem and the various zoning, land-use, and antidiscrimination policies that have been created to solve it. A thoughtful study for corporate and public executives, who need new ways to reconcile economic development with other social needs, and an innovative, challenging analysis for the public policy experts and political scientists who advise them.

Review: ?In pursuit of 'more justice and less tragedy, ' O'Looney takes up the task of devising a policy framework for governing the use of land when land is used in ways that are undesirable to communities. In the US, such locally unwanted land use (LULUs) have generated a not-my-backyard (NIMBY) movement that stifles the search for environmental justice yet protects neighborhoods from the destructive forces of capitalism.

Hoping to resolve this tension O'Looney embarks on a wide-ranging, thoroughly documented, and scholarly assessment of the political and ideological foundations of land use controls, eventually leading to his proposal for a policy framework based on neighborhood governance and progressive burden sharing.

Overall, O'Looney educates and challenges, and he does so impressively.?-Choice