Editorial

Citation

Chynoweth, P. (2009), "Editorial", International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, Vol. 1 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlbe.2009.41101baa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, Volume 1, Issue 2

The second issue of the International Journal of Law in the Built Environment (IJLBE) once again provides a series of international perspectives on legal aspects of the design, construction, management and use of the various facets of the built environment.

In this issue we welcome contributions from the USA, Turkey, Australia, and Portugal. We return to some of the themes introduced in the first issue with new national perspectives on the development of mediation in the construction industry, on the ongoing reform of building control systems across the world, and on the increasing role of strata title, and similar forms of land tenure, in the planning and management of urban housing provision. We also include a substantial treatment of the related, and pressing, issue of land use planning and sustainable development within the wider urban environment.

Ziegler introduces these issues for us with his insightful review of the consequences of urban sprawl and automobile-dependent development in the USA. His paper proposes an alternative model for regional growth management. This would be based on regional transit planning and higher density, mixed-use urban centres which together would provide the potential to create a more sustainable and less automobile-dependent future.

The challenges of planning and managing high-density urban developments are, of course, already being confronted in many parts of the world. One manifestation of this has been the birth of the strata title concept, which is now increasingly used as a vehicle for the regulation of owners' private property rights in high-rise units across many jurisdictions of the world. The birthplace of the strata title was the Australian state of New South Wales. Sherry's paper, therefore, provides an important basis for the development of knowledge in this emerging area by presenting us with a case study of the New South Wales approach to strata title and the related legislation dealing with master planned communities.

Ilter addresses the increasingly important topic of mediation. Her paper on the prospects for the use of mediation in the Turkish construction industry includes a critical analysis of some of the more contentious provisions of the new Turkish Draft Law on mediation in legal disputes. This analysis includes a comparison with the European Community Mediation Directive, and with the mediation laws of some of the EC member states. Her paper also incorporates a socio-legal component and presents original data on the attitudes towards the use of mediation within the Turkish construction industry.

Finally, Pedro, Meijer, and Visscher contribute to the growing and timely body of work on the overhaul of the building regulation systems throughout the world in their paper on the current situation in Portugal. Their paper reviews the legal and regulatory provisions as well as the published commentaries of relevant professional associations and provides a valuable perspective on the ongoing challenges which are currently being confronted by multiple jurisdictions in the field. Building regulation and control, unlike the related topic of land use planning, is an area that has long been neglected, both by legal scholars and by their counterparts in the built environment disciplines. The continued development of this inter-disciplinary area of knowledge within the IJLBE is therefore especially welcome.

Paul Chynoweth