In view of the financial crisis and the unique challenges facing 21st century society cities are acknowledging the need of governmental assistance and the help of the private sector to foster successful and responsible urban development, innovation and global competitiveness. Forming private/public partnerships requires the interaction and collaboration between key individuals in both sectors; The Urban Investment Network, an independant network developed by The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and its Founding Partners facilitates precisely this.

The ULI Urban Investment Network facilitates dialogue between leaders who seek to improve their ability to collaborate in order to increase opportunities to bridge investment gaps and improve the living conditions within cities through sustainable economical and environmental development.

In the lastest report by the ULI Urban Investment Network: Leveraging Public Land to Attract Urban Investment, Greg Clark, Alexandra Notay and Gareth Evans present the conclusions of the ULI Investment Network workshop that explored the experiences of the seven cities in using public land to promote urban investment.

The seven city project case studies included in the report, which differ according to their context and needs are: HafenCity, Hamburg; 22@Barcelona, Barcelona; Project Edinburgh, Edinburgh Integrated Province Planning, Istanbul; The Ground Lease System, Amsterdam; The Ile-de-France Region, Paris; The Olympic Park Legacy Company, London.

Each of these projects, although different in their approaches, used public land to attract investment drawing lessons that may serve for other cities and bringing unique insight to bear on how cities can benefit from public/private partnerships in this context. The report also outlines 10 principles for using public land to leverage urban investment, exploring ways that cities may use their land beyond simply selling it.

To view the report click here