A Compilation and Analysis of Key Criteria for Land Bank Development

Abstract

Land bank is one of the most important instruments of sustainable development of properties. However, land banking is still considered very risky as the actual use of land is difficult to fill (Van Dijk and Kopeva in Land Use Policy 23:286–301, 2006). Gilbert (Habitat Int 33:425–435, 2009) argues that land bank managers need to know how and why they need to take steps to increase the market value of the land. It focuses on not only the decision that has been made, but also how that decision was made (Williamson et al. in Land Administration For Sustainable Development (p. 487), 2010). This paper explores the key criteria needed for a successful land bank development. The first phase includes a thorough review of more than 30 sources of literature relevant to the topic, while the second phase is a survey of five selected developers in Penang, Malaysia. Content and quantitative analyses were performed on the data, respectively, identifying the connection between both the literature and developers’ perspectives. The study presents interesting findings in that it lends support to existing literature, such as practices in land bank development do affect land bank development success. The data received from respondents have implications for the level of performance that is perceived by developers, as well as the experience in land development process. This piece of work serves as a corroborative evidence to improve the satisfaction of industry players, policy makers and investors. The paper ends by recommending that the study be repeated in Malaysia in the context of other stakeholders to enrich the findings.