1. agglomeration
The term "economies of agglomeration" is used in urban economics to describe the benefits that firms obtain when locating near each other. (wikipedia)
2. arbitrage
Error-detection in the market place that can lead to risk-free profit. wikipedia: In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price differential between two or more markets: striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices. When used by academics, an arbitrage is a transaction that involves no negative cash flow at any probabilistic or temporal state and a positive cash flow in at least one state; in simple terms, a risk-free profit. A person who engages in arbitrage is called an arbitrageur.
3. as-of-right
a zoning term that refers to what a developer can do with a property under current zoning, without any changes or variances.
4. catallactics
Catallactics is the praxeological theory of the way the market economy reaches exchange ratios and prices. It aims to analyse all actions based on monetary calculation and trace the formation of prices back to the point where an economic actor makes his or her choices. It explains market prices as they are and not as they should be. The laws of catallactics are not value judgments, but aim to be exact, objective and of universal validity. Friedrich Hayek used the term Catallaxy to describe as "the order brought about by the mutual adjustment of many individual economies in a market." (wikipedia)
5. CBD
Central Business District or downtown area typically dominated by commercial activity
6. Congestion Pricing
The concept of charging for the use of a transportation facility, such as a roadway, based on the level of traffic congestion. The greater the level of congestion, which usually occurs during the morning and afternoon peak-periods, the higher the cost to use the facility.
7. Elasticity
wikipedia: In economics, elasticity is the ratio of the proportionate change in one variable with respect to proportional change in another variable, such as the responsiveness of the price of a commodity to changes in market demand or visa-versa. In terms of elasticity, a market or good can be described as elastic or inelastic as a means of describing its responsiveness to the proportionate change in another quantity.
8. emergence
In philosophy, systems theory and the sciences, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. [wikipedia] the arising of novel and coherent structures, patterns and properties during the process of self-organization in complex systems [Corning, 2002]
9. explicit cost
An Explicit cost is an easy accounted cost, such as wage, rent and materials. It can be transacted in the form of money payment and is lost directly, as opposed to monetary implicit costs. (wikipedia)
10. FAR
Floor area ratio - a measurement of density. The Floor Area Ratio is the total building square footage (building area) divided by the site size square footage (site area).
11. Free-Market
Economic system in which individuals, rather than government, make the majority of decisions regarding economic activities and transactions. Individuals are free to make economic decisions concerning their employment, how to use or accumulate capital, what expenditures to make, and whether to use their resources now or to save them for later consumption. (MS Encarta)
12. Gentrification
The upgrading of urban property in a deteriorated area, usually resulting in the dispersal of the current residents and their replacement by a more affluent population. (Dictionary of Architecture and Construction) Historically, the term "gentry" referred to landed people; in the twenty-first century, it usually refers to the upper middle class. (US History Encyclopedia)
13. greenfield
land not previously developed
14. implicit cost
In economics, an implicit cost occurs when one foregoes an alternative action but does not make an actual payment. (For instance, the explicit cost of a night at the movies includes the moviegoer's ticket and soda, but the implicit cost includes the pay he would have earned if he had chosen to work instead.) Implicit costs are related to forgone benefits of any single transaction. (wikipedia) commonly called "opportunity cost"
15. infill
land that can be developed or redevolped within an already built-up area
16. LIHTC
The LIHTC Program is an indirect Federal subsidy used to finance the development of affordable rental housing for low-income households. Federal housing tax credits are awarded to developers of qualified projects. Developers then sell these credits to investors to raise capital (or equity) for their projects, which reduces the debt that the developer would otherwise have to borrow. Because the debt is lower, a tax credit property can in turn offer lower, more affordable rents.
17. NIMBY
An acronym of Not In My BackYard describes the opposition of residents to the nearby location of something they consider undesirable, even if it is clearly a benefit for many. (wikipedia)
18. opportunity cost
value of foregone alternatives to produce or obtain a product or service. wikipedia: Opportunity cost is a key concept in economics because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. It has been described as expressing "the basic relationship between scarcity and choice." The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered. [also refered to as "implicit cost"]
19. patronage
granting favors or giving contracts or making appointments to office in return for political support
20. redlining
Redlining is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in certain often racially determined areas. The most devastating form of redlining and the most common use of the term refers to mortgage discrimination in which middle income black and Hispanic residents are denied loans available to lower income whites. [wikipedia]
21. Rent control
Rent control is a program run by local or state governments that regulates the amount of rent a landlord can charge. Rent control also outlines regulations concerning eviction. Some types of rent control include how much a landlord can increase rent each year and how much the landlord can increase rent from tenant to tenant. In some cities, only certain buildings fall under rent control law.
22. rent stabilized
Rent stabilized apartments are governed by regulations that dictate the amount of rent and the percentage rent can be increased year over year. Rent stabilization is a form of rent control. Rent stabilized apartments can be found in New York City and some other parts of New York state, as well as parts of California. While rent stabilization is a form of rent control, in New York City, the terms are distinct and apply to two different types of apartments.
23. Section 8
The Housing Choice Voucher Program is a type of Federal assistance provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dedicated to sponsoring subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals. It is more commonly known as Section 8, in reference to the portion of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 under which the original subsidy program was authorized. (wikipedia)
24. smart growth
an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, streets that work for everyone, mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. (wikipedia)
25. tragedy of the commons
The metaphor illustrates how free access and unrestricted demand for a finite resource ultimately structurally dooms the resource through over-exploitation. This occurs because the benefits of exploitation accrue to individuals or groups, each of whom is motivated to maximize use of the resource to the point in which they become reliant on it, while the costs of the exploitation are distributed among all those to whom the resource is available (which may be a wider class of individuals than that which is exploiting it). This, in turn, causes demand for the resource to increase, which causes the problem to snowball to the point in which the resource is exhausted. (wikipedia)
26. transaction cost
In economics and related disciplines, a transaction cost is a cost incurred in making an economic exchange. Consider buying a banana from a store; to purchase the banana, your costs will be not only the price of the banana itself, but also the energy and effort it requires to find out which of the various banana products you prefer, where to get them and at what price, the cost of traveling from your house to the store and back, the time waiting in line, and the effort of the paying itself; the costs above and beyond the cost of the banana are the transaction costs. When rationally evaluating a potential transaction, it is important to consider transaction costs that might prove significant. [from wikipedia]
27. Urban Growth Boundaries
An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control industrailization by allowing the area inside the boundary for higher density urban development and the area outside for lower density development. An urban growth boundary circumscribes an entire urbanized area and is used by local governments as a guide to zoning and land use decisions. If the area affected by the boundary includes multiple jurisdictions a special urban planning agency may be created by the state or regional government to manage the boundary. In a rural context, the terms town boundary, village curtilage or village envelope may be used to apply the same constraining principles. Some jurisdictions refer to the area within an urban growth boundary as an urban growth area, or UGA. While the names are different, the concept is the same. Another term used is urban service area. (wikipedia)
28. urban planning
An attempt to control chaotic urban growth. [Sanford Ikeda]
29. urban renewal
Following World War II, and continuing into the early 1970s, urban renewal referred primarily to public efforts to revitalize aging and decaying inner cities, although some suburban communities undertook such projects as well. Including massive demolition, slum clearance, and rehabilitation, urban renewal proceeded initially from local and state legislation. The earliest emphasis was placed on slum clearance or redevelopment, which was followed by a focused effort to conserve threatened but not yet deteriorated neighborhoods. (Encyclopedia of Chicago) Renewal often resulted in the creation of urban sprawl and vast areas of cities being demolished and replaced by freeways and expressways, housing projects, and vacant lots, some of which still remain vacant at the beginning of the 21st century. (wikipedia)
30. Vacancy Decontrol
Vacancy decontrol is a more moderate method that has been used by many cities to phase out rent control or lessen the scope of rent control. Vacancy decontrol usually means that rent controls are enforced in apartments only until the tenant leaves. At the time a tenant leaves, the landlord is permitted to return the unit to market rates.
31. zoning
The control by a municipality of the use of land and buildings, the height and bulk of buildings, the density of population, the relation of a lot’s building coverage to open space, the size and location of yards and setbacks, and the provision of any ancillary facilities such as parking. Zoning, established through the adoption of a municipal ordinance, is a principal instrument in implementing a master plan.
