United States of America

Abstract

In spite of the fact that one third of the USA is owned by the federal authorities, the right for private individuals to do with their land as they see fit lies at the core of American planning. Zoning only became accepted in 1926 after the Supreme Court ruled that it was in the Community's power to regulate the use of land in this way. Zoning is now widespread but has not been able to prevent urban sprawl and so many tax related schemes have been tried to save farmland, but developers either avoid these, or offset any liability to tax paid by future development profits. -A.Gilg