Transfer of Development Rights: A New Tool for Planners

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is being widely discussed as a tool for guiding growth and protecting low-density uses of land. Several recent proposals are discussed which serve to illustrate the diversity of TDR proposals. Each plan raises particular and unique questions which must be addressed, but each must deal in some fashion with the central problem: insuring that a market in fact exists for the development rights, to give them a value, and to provide an incentive for their transfer.