Public Property Law and Society

<p>This book examines the almost entirely neglected realm of public property identifying and describing a number of key organizing principles around which a nascent jurisprudence of public property may be developed. </p><p>In property law terms the public realm is lost to plain view. Despite the vast acreage of public lands or the extensive tracts of private lands over which public rights subsist there is little commensurate scholarly discussion of the ideas theories practices and laws of public property. This is no accident. Public property has been marginalized and pushed to the periphery for centuries a consequence of the dominant discourse of private property and its enclosing encroaching tendencies. This book explores the rich diversity of the public estate of what the public realm means for us the general public canvassing what we may ‘own’ where we may ‘belong’ or not and how we may ‘connect’ through a shared use and enjoyment of public place and space. To better understand public property is to better value its critical public-wealth. Whether overlooked over-used or under threat of imminent loss this book maintains that our loved (and not so loved) public spaces are essential components of our diverse functioning and optimistically livable human geographies. As such they demand legal protection. </p><p>This important and original book will be of considerable interest to scholars and others with interests in property and land law socio-legal studies legal geography and urban studies.</p>