Work

Assessing the Stringency of Land-Use Regulation in a High-Density City: Evidence from Land Values and FAR Constraints in Guangzhou, 2003–2025

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the stringency of floor area ratio (FAR) regulation in Guangzhou using a market-based approach. Building on a theoretical framework that links land price with respect to FAR to regulatory stringency, we estimate how FAR constraints operate in practice when regulated development intensity falls below market-determined levels. Using a detailed land transaction dataset, we incorporate land conveyance fixed effects and explicitly account for urban subcenters to better capture intra-urban spatial structure. The results show that FAR stringency generally declines with distance from the city center, while district-level subcenters exert regulatory influences comparable to those of the central area. These patterns are consistent with a core–periphery spatial structure, suggesting that FAR regulation shapes urban development by moderating density in central areas while accommodating growth in subcenters. Overall, the findings illustrate how FAR stringency functions as an operational indicator of development control in a high-density metropolitan context.

Source: Land

Authors: Ting Li, Qifeng Yuan, Xiaxuan He, Gang Li

Institutions: South China University of Technology, Guangxi Minzu University

Language: English

Topic: Urban Planning and Valuation

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China