Placing Property: A Legal Geography of Property Rights in Land

This book explores the legal geography of property rights in land, focusing on landscape and critical spatial justice. It investigates property's origins and uptake in the common law, offering a genealogy of property and reconsidering accepted approaches to land. It also contributes to decolonizing property law and critiques of property's unsustainability.

Format: Hardback
Length: 70 pages
Publication date: 10 July 2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This open-access book explores the legal geography of property rights in land, focusing on the relationship between landscape and critical spatial justice. It aims to reassert the significance of landscape and place in property, offering an alternative to abstract concepts that dominate contemporary thinking. By examining the origins and uptake of property in the common law through the lenses of landscape and spatial justice, the book provides a genealogy of property, tracing its development from pre-feudal Scandinavia to its establishment as a cornerstone concept in English common law. It offers a fresh perspective and analytical tools to reconsider prevailing approaches to land in law today. Furthermore, this book contributes to the decolonization of property law and critiques of property's unsustainability, examining the role of law in facilitating large-scale land changes that erode place and their consequences. It is of interest to inter-disciplinary scholars working in socio-legal, environmental, and property law fields.

Introduction:
Property rights in land have long been a central concern in legal systems around the world. However, traditional approaches to property often overlook the importance of landscape and place in shaping property relations. This book seeks to rectify this by exploring the legal geography of property rights in land through the lenses of landscape and critical spatial justice.

The Importance of Landscape and Place in Property:
Landscape and place are fundamental components of property rights. They shape the way in which individuals and communities interact with the land, influencing its use, value, and sustainability. Landscape, for example, can provide valuable resources such as water, food, and natural habitats, while also shaping the cultural and social identity of communities. Place, on the other hand, refers to the specific location and context of property, including its historical, cultural, and environmental significance.

Traditional Approaches to Property:
Traditional approaches to property often prioritize abstract concepts such as ownership, title, and possession. These concepts are often based on a Cartesian dualism that separates the physical world from the mental and moral realm. As a result, they tend to overlook the interdependence between humans and the natural environment, as well as the social and cultural dimensions of property.

Critical Spatial Justice:
Critical spatial justice is a framework that seeks to address the inequalities and injustices that arise from the spatial organization of society. It recognizes that spatial arrangements, such as the location of infrastructure, housing, and employment, can perpetuate social and economic inequalities. Critical spatial justice also emphasizes the importance of community participation and decision-making in shaping the spatial landscape.

Property's Origins and Uptake in the Common Law:
This book investigates the origins and uptake of property in the common law through the lenses of landscape and spatial justice. It explores how the concept of property has evolved over time, from its early origins in pre-feudal Scandinavia to its development as a cornerstone concept in English common law. The book also examines how the common law has responded to the changing landscape, including the development of land use regulations and the protection of natural resources.

A Genealogy of Property:
The book provides a genealogy of property, tracing its development from its early origins in pre-feudal Scandinavia to its establishment as a cornerstone concept in English common law. It explores how property has been shaped by various social, economic, and political factors, including the rise. The book also examines how property has been used to perpetuate social and economic inequalities, as well as how it has been challenged and transformed by various movements and ideologies, such as the land reform movement and the environmental justice movement.

A New Perspective and Analytical Tools:
This book offers a new perspective and analytical tools to reconsider many accepted approaches to land in the law today. It emphasizes the importance of considering the social and cultural dimensions of property, as well as the interdependence between humans and the natural environment. It also provides a framework for analyzing the legal and political implications of land use and land change, including the role of law in facilitating large-scale land changes that destroy place and the ramifications of this process.

Decolonization of Property Law:
This book also contributes to the decolonization of property law and critiques of property's unsustainability. It examines how property has been used to perpetuate colonialism and exploitation, as well as how it has been challenged and transformed by various movements and ideologies, such as the anti-colonial movement and the environmental justice movement. The book also explores how property can be used to promote sustainable development and social justice.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, this open-access book explores the legal geography of property rights in land, focusing on the relationship between landscape and critical spatial justice. It aims to reassert the significance of landscape and place in property, offering an alternative to abstract concepts that dominate contemporary thinking. By examining the origins and uptake of property in the common law through the lenses of landscape and spatial justice, the book provides a genealogy of property, tracing its development from pre-feudal Scandinavia to its establishment as a cornerstone concept in English common law. It offers a fresh perspective and analytical tools to reconsider prevailing approaches to land in law today. Furthermore, this book contributes to the decolonization of property law and critiques of property's unsustainability, examining the role of law in facilitating large-scale land changes that erode place and their consequences. It is of interest to inter-disciplinary scholars working in socio-legal, environmental, and property law fields.

Weight: 303g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031319938
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023