Land Policy in Germany: Waiting for the Owner to Develop

Land Policy in Germany is not an independent policy domain but rather takes on different meanings across various spatial scales. At the national level, it is understood as a non-unified policy field that emerges at the intersection of building, planning, environmental, and other policies. On the local scale, it is commonly understood as the strategy of municipalities to implement land-use planning objectives by means of private law and property rights. On the national level, land policy objectives, such as the production of 400,000 housing units per year, reducing land take to 30 ha per day, and urban densification, have been established. However, these objectives are partially in conflict with each other. Moreover, on the local level, the strong property rights associated with land ownership can make it challenging to implement these policy goals. The case of Burgwall 21 in the city of Dortmund to illustrate howland policy in Germany shapes and influences the relationship between public planning and property rights in practice. The case study explores why a plot of land with high development potential and economic value in a well-integrated urban location can remain underdeveloped for decades.