A new transit station opens. A public park is restored. Zoning changes allow more development. These public decisions can make nearby land dramatically more valuable—but who receives that value?
That question is central to Just Communities, an initiative of the Partnership for Southern Equity that helps residents, local governments, and development professionals put racial equity and climate resilience at the center of neighborhood growth.
Without intentional policy, the financial gains often flow primarily to property owners and investors. Meanwhile, rising rents, taxes, and speculation can place longtime residents and small businesses at risk of displacement. Land value capture tools offer another path: communities can recover part of the value created by public action and reinvest it in affordable housing, public infrastructure, and climate resilience.
How Does Land Value Capture Work?
Land value capture is not one policy or funding formula. It is a set of municipal finance tools built around a straightforward principle: public action should generate public benefit.1 When government investment or land-use decisions increase private land values, a portion of that increase can be returned to the public.
Common land value capture tools include:
- Infrastructure levies or special assessments paid by properties that benefit from a public improvement.
- Developer obligations and impact fees that help fund infrastructure, affordable housing, or services required by new development.
- Charges for development rights that exchange additional height or density for cash or public benefits.
- Land readjustment, which pools parcels for coordinated development and public uses.
- Strategic public land management, through which governments buy, lease, develop, or sell land to advance public priorities.2
The right tool depends on local law, market conditions, community goals, and who receives the financial benefit. As federal guidance emphasizes, value capture is not one-size-fits-all.3
Land Value Capture Examples From Around the World
During the Just Communities webinar “Unlocking Climate Resilience Through Land Value Capture,” experts from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy showed how cities are connecting land policy with climate adaptation.1
Barranquilla, Colombia: A Fairer Way to Fund Flood Protection
In Barranquilla, intense rainfall created fast-moving street floods known as arroyos. The city estimated that underground stormwater infrastructure would cost approximately $190 million. It used a betterment levy, charging property owners who benefited from the improvements. Importantly, contributions varied by property type and income rather than applying one flat rate to everyone.4 This example shows how equitable development financing can account for both benefit and ability to pay.
Boston, Massachusetts: Developer Contributions for Coastal Resilience
Boston’s city-owned, 190-acre Raymond L. Flynn Marine Industrial Park faces flooding and sea-level rise. Flood protection was estimated to cost more than $200 million. Boston paired increased development capacity with its Climate Resiliency Infrastructure Contribution Program. As new development proceeds, developers contribute to a fund for seawalls and other protective infrastructure.4 The approach connects private development opportunity with responsibility for climate-resilient infrastructure.
Santa Fe, Argentina: Managing Stormwater One Property at a Time
Santa Fe requires new buildings, developments, and major renovations to install on-site stormwater retention systems. During the policy’s first six years, hundreds of buildings added enough retention capacity to equal more than 40 flooded street blocks.4 The webinar also highlighted a Solidarity Fund that allows projects with space constraints to contribute toward shared retention infrastructure in the same neighborhood. Small, site-level actions can produce significant citywide climate benefits when public policy coordinates them.
Equity Must Be Designed Into Land Value Capture
Land value capture does not automatically create equitable development. Climate investments can raise property values and housing costs, potentially pushing lower-income residents into areas with greater climate risk.1 Effective anti-displacement strategies should therefore be built in from the beginning.
That means giving residents meaningful decision-making power, considering income-based fees and exemptions, protecting legacy businesses, supporting community land trusts, and dedicating captured revenue to permanently affordable housing. Public agencies should clearly answer: Who created the value? Who pays? Who benefits? Who retains long-term control?
The Just Communities Protocol helps communities embed racial equity, shared governance, and climate resilience throughout neighborhood development.5 Within that framework, land value capture can do more than close a funding gap. It can support community stability, climate adaptation, and community wealth building—turning growth from a source of extraction into an opportunity for shared prosperity.
Explore the Just Communities Protocol and watch the land value capture webinar.