Polycentric development under public leasehold: A spatial analysis of commercial land use rights

This study inspects the urban spatial structure of growing megacities on a polycentric or edgeless development pathway under public leasehold systems using transaction data on commercial land use rights within the Shanghai metropolitan area for 2004–2016. Both zone-level supply and parcel-level demand equations are estimated to address whether the spatial distribution and price formation of commercial land use rights are associated with: (1) existing district centers and/or new employment subcenters; (2) highway and/or metro extensions; and (3) two suburban airports. Three sets of empirical findings describe how the transfers of commercial land use rights from local governments to property developers significantly predetermine the long-term trajectory of polycentric or edgeless development in emerging economies under public leasehold systems.