Developer behaviour and development control

Summary Studies by the North Carolina group established the decision modelling approach to study urban growth. These studies established the central role played by developers in the process, and the rational and adaptive behaviour of developer decision‐making. Events have since changed the developer's decision environment: the growing complexity and uncertainty of the development control process and the changing structure of the development industry towards larger and more integrated firms. This author argues that if developers are truly rational and adaptive there should be some observable and stable relationship between their structure and operation and their performance in the development control process. This paper reports the findings of a case study which examines such relationships in the subdivision approval process in Scarborough, Ontario. Thirteen developer/development variables were tested. The major finding is that firm size was the most important variable. Large firms did not do well in negotiation but they took much less time in implementing the conditions of approval and in starting the building work. It is further argued that such behaviour is compatible with the financial, production and marketing characteristics of development firms.