Ethical land use: principles of policy and planning

ETHICA L

LAN D US E

ETHICA L

LAN D US E

PRINCIPLE S O F

POLIC Y AN D

PLANNIN G

Timothy Beatley

»AI HOC THAI NGUTI N

TMGTA M HOC LIEU-

— • •

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Baltimore and London

Published in cooperation with the Center for

American Places, Harrisonburg, Virginia

© 1994 The Johns Hopkins University Press

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper

05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 6 5 4 3 2

The Johns Hopkins University Press

2715 North Charles Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4319

The Johns Hopkins Press Ltd., London

ISBN 0-8018-4698-6

ISBN 0-8018-4699-4 (pbk.)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data will be found at the end of this book.

A catalog record for this book is available

from the British Library.

T O M Y PARENTS,

FOR THEIR LOVE

AND INSPIRATION

That land is a community is the basic concept

of ecology, but that land is to be loved and

respected is an extension of ethics.

Aldo Leopold, 1933

If I am to impact the land for my survival,

I attempt to do so in such a way that

the land can heal as rapidly and as

aesthetically as possible. I consider

that to be ethical land use.

David R. Mover, a Virginia

homesteader, 1993

CONTENT S

List of Abbreviations ix

Preface and Acknowledgments xi

Part L The Ethical Framework

1. Land-Use Policy and Ethical Choices 3

2. The Nature of Ethical Discourse about Land Use 18

Part II. Sets of Land-Use Ethics and Obligations

3. Utilitarian and Market Perspectives on Land Use 33

4. Culpability and the Prevention of Land-Use Harms 54

5. Land-Use Rights 65

6. Distributive Obligations in Land Use 87

7. Ethical Duties to the Environment 102

8. Land-Use Obligations to Future Generations 134

Part III. Ethics and Individual Liberties

9. Paternalism and Voluntary Risk-taking 155

10. Expectations and Promises in Land-Use Policy 170

11. Private Property, Land-Use Profits, and the Takings Issue 190

Part IV. Ethics, Community, and Politics

12. Defining Life-Style and Community Character 211

13. Duties beyond Borders: Interjurisdictional Land-Use Ethics 227

viii

Contents

14. The Ethics of Land-Use Politics 241

Part V. Conclusions

15. Principles of Ethical Land Use 261

References 275

Bibliographical Essay 291

Index 297