Community-based land reform: Lessons from Scotland

Stephen Richard — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 09:41:07 +0000

Primary Author or Creator

John Bryden CharlesGeisle

Stephen Richard Fri, 09/24/2021 - 10:41

Additional Author(s) / Creators

CharlesGeisler

Alternative Published Date

2007

Category

Land

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

Land Use Policy Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2007, Pages 24-34

Fast Facts

Drawing on insights from community-based natural resource management and local development, qualified evidence is offered suggesting that, as in the current Scottish case, community-centric land reform has a promising future.

More details

In recent years, the Scottish Highlands have become the epicentre of a land reform significant for its strong embrace of culture and community. Close inspection of the Scottish land reform—wherein communities are granted the right to purchase lands to which they historically enjoyed only conditional access—leads to a series of questions about the relationship between land reform and community. We argue that most land reforms have paid insufficient attention to community strengthening as an end in itself and are the weaker for it. Drawing on insights from community-based natural resource management and local development, we offer qualified evidence suggesting that, as in the current Scottish case, community-centric land reform has a promising future. We trace the pre-reform history of community buy-outs in Scotland and pose various issues that must be addressed if Scotland's land reform legislation is to succeed.

Report is behind a paywall.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837705000554

Keywords

Community ownership

Community buyout

Land reform

Language English