Greenfield Sites Research Articles

Towards urban LCA: examining densification alternatives for a residential neighbourhood

This paper explores the environmental impacts of retaining or replacing buildings by extending the consequential replacement framework (CRF) for life-cycle assessment (LCA) from individual buildings towards the urban scale. It addresses a gap in previous studies by examining the broader consequences of building-level retention or replacement decisions in the built environment, namely greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from associated infrastructure construction. The case study, which is located in Finland, investigates alternative ways to densify a growing city, some of which can be achieved within the urban structure, while others require greenfield construction elsewhere in the city. The results reveal that refurbishing and extending already existing buildings is worthwhile in terms of GHG emissions, even if some of the additional floor area targeted in densification were to be built on a greenfield site. After 50 years, the accumulated GHG emissions of scenarios that develop existing buildings are 0.2–12% less than those from replacement scenarios, depending on whether the targeted densification is minor or major and the amount of infrastructure construction involved. This is primarily due to the 11–35% smaller upfront embodied GHG emissions of refurbishment compared with new construction—which 50 years do not offset. Policy relevance This paper reinforces the notion from previous research that developing the existing building stock holds major emission-savings potential, even more so than replacement with energy-efficient new build. It highlights the potential contribution of existing building stocks in low-emission city development, even in growing city contexts. The case study results challenge the common belief in urban planning that if replacement involves densification, it must be a more low-emission alternative than retention, and conversely, if retention leads to greenfield construction, it must be higher in emissions than replacement. Low-emission urban planning should base its conclusions on urban LCA. This paper introduces an infrastructure-extended CRF that accounts for building retention and replacement scenarios, ensuring methodological robustness. The approach is essential for policymakers to base their decisions on evidence and prioritise low-emission development alternatives. Which policymakers hold power over such decisions and which instruments are suitable to pursue these goals depend on the context.

Automated geotechnical logging of core box images using machine learning

ABSTRACT Geotechnical characterization is contingent on reliable data to reduce uncertainty in the conditions of slope walls or underground workings. However, geotechnical data for greenfield and brownfield sites are often limited. The data that are available are often inconsistent and difficult to reliably use to inform the geotechnical domain model. SRK has developed machine learning workflows using deep learning for geotechnical classification of existing core box photographs to provide a reliable and objective data set that can be used to inform rock mass characterization and structural modeling. Conventional geotechnical parameters are often unsuitable for automation due to the reliance on subjective decisions by the logger for interval lengths or defining naturally open versus closed breaks. Three classification systems have been developed: the Core Damage Index (CDI), the Pseudo-RQD, and the Break Frequency. The CDI classifies discrete intervals within the photographs according to the average clast sizes relative to the core diameter to provide a high-resolution view of the variability of damage down a drill hole. Pseudo-RQD and Break Frequency are calculated by mapping the breaks and rubble zones observed on drill core images.

Optimal location to land banking practices in urban-rural informal land market continuum of Ghana

Land banking practices in complex informal land markets are growing in developing countries. However, the land banking (LB) literature predominantly focuses on publicly driven land banks operating within formal land markets. Against this backdrop, this study investigates optimal locations for LB projects in Ghana's complex informal land markets from the perspective of private and semi-public real estate developers. Utilising a two-stage research process, first, the study developed a conceptual framework by using: (1) suppositions regarding space under economic geography; and (2) theoretical suppositions on the use of LB and its influence on LB locational choices uncovered from an interpretive hermeneutic literature review. The second stage focused on an empirical assessment of the conceptual framework by taking four urbanised regions in Ghana. The case study stage uses primary data from 30 interviewees selected using purposive and snowball sampling, while secondary data comprised land bank inventories from the regional Lands Commissions of the case study regions. Results revealed land title security as the primary factor determining optimal locations for land banks. There are significant challenges related to land title security in urban and inner parts of peri-urban areas. These challenges are aggravating the transformation of agricultural lands into residential lands in developers' preferred land bank locations. Based on the ongoing land transformation occurrences, the study underscores the need for policy responses that enhance title security to encourage developers to diversify their land banking locational preferences beyond solely greenfield sites to a mix of green and urban brownfield sites.

Mineralized structures from the Alhué mining district, Chile: Using fluid inclusions and textures

The Alhué mining district (AMD) of the Coastal Range in Central Chile is situated approximately 70 km southwest of the city of Santiago and hosted in stratified Jurassic and Early Cretaceous sequences which are common in central Chile. More than 79 faults and veins are recognized in the AMD hosted in andesites and tuffs with clear structural control showing two distinct trends. Precious‐metal mineralization locally extends over strike lengths of up to 1000 m along these structures with grades averaging at 5 ppm gold and 23 ppm of silver. In this study, a University of Chile – YAMANA GOLD joint research project was created to better understand this particular deposit and explore the origin of gold anomalies found in the district using drill core, mine, and surface samples. Wide internal variations in homogenization temperature and electrolytes were observed at all scales: on the district scale, in mineralized structures intersected in drill core, and in hand specimens. This variability may reflect the diversity of ore-forming conditions in the mining district in addition to the different processes (including fault motion over time) and geochemical components within the district. Textural analyses and fluid inclusion assemblages (FIA) provide evidence for boiling and flashing mechanisms at several localities. Raman spectroscopy and LA-ICP-MS techniques allowed a better characterization of the fluid composition and mineral paragenesis. The presence of gold (∼3.8 ppm) and silver (∼1424 ppm) in both vapor-rich only FIAs (i.e. that contain 99 % vapor) hosted in quartz and liquid-rich FIA hosted in sphalerite implies that gold was transported as sulfide and chloride complexes. The AMD shows a transition from a high temperature environment (sometimes containing calc-silicate minerals) to a low temperature (epithermal) system. This mineralization depended on the type of vein system which tend to be mineralized in strike slip faults e.g. Maqui and Lorena structures. The consequence of flashing documented at dilational jogs, structural intersections and fault bends was likely an important outcome leading to the precipitation of metals at the AMD.Coexisting liquid-rich and vapor-rich fluid inclusions contained in a FIA were observed at the deepest levels in the Chilco vein and the proportion of samples showing boiling increases with depth, indicating that additional precious metal resources may be present below current exploration depths. In summary, our new results reveal that gold, silver and base metal veins found at the AMD in Chile are unique hydrothermal polymetallic ore deposits that are structurally controlled and related to an orogenic environment. A general model for the AMD is one where high temperature fluids from deep crustal mafic magmatic systems, probably as products of a devolatilization and far-from-equilibrium conditions, reach subsurface conditions along faults and are mineralized along these faults. Because having a truly unique ore deposit in the geologic record is very unlikely, the AMD forms an important case study that helps understand structurally controlled ore deposits. Thus our work can form a model for future exploration in the AMD and provide insight into exploration in other sites in Chile and along continental margin settings worldwide, in both poorly characterized known deposits and at greenfield sites.

Life Cycle Assessment of Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower in the United States.

The United States has begun unprecedented efforts to decarbonize all sectors of the economy by 2050, requiring rapid deployment of variable renewable energy technologies and grid-scale energy storage. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is an established technology capable of providing grid-scale energy storage and grid resilience. There is limited information about the life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions associated with state-of-the-industry PSH technologies. The objective of this study is to perform a full life cycle assessment of new closed-loop PSH in the United States and assess the global warming potential (GWP) attributed to 1 kWh of stored electricity delivered to the nearest grid substation connection point. For this study, we use publicly available data from PSH facilities that are in the preliminary permitting phase. The modeling boundary is from facility construction to decommissioning. Our results estimate that the GWP of closed-loop PSH in the United States ranges from 58 to 530 g CO2e kWh-1, with the stored electricity grid mix having the largest impact, followed by concrete used in facility construction. Additionally, PSH site characteristics can have a substantive impact on GWP, with brownfield sites resulting in a 20% lower GWP compared to greenfield sites. Our results suggest that closed-loop PSH offers climate benefits over other energy storage technologies.

Forecasting energy demand, supply, and carbon footprint for greenfield planning in the context of net zero systems: Case study on Western Sydney Aerotropolis in New South Wales, Australia

Greenfield precincts offer an opportunity to develop energy hubs, which can help the transition to carbon neutrality. However, this requires a detailed demand model, which is often not available in the early planning stages. To address this need, this paper proposes a novel methodology for building a demand model using available information, including types of zones/sectors present on-site, historical energy consumption of those sectors at a national level, and energy consumption studies on floor-stock basis (i.e., floor area). We apply this approach in a case study energizing the proposed Aerotropolis Core Precinct (ACP) within the wider Aerotropolis site to be constructed in Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The model also looks at supplying this demand, and the corresponding associated emissions, for the years 2025, 2035 and 2050 – in line with Australia’s Net Zero-time horizon. Results show that ACP demand increases from 368 GWh in 2025 to 1,233 GWh in 2035 then 1,444 GWh in 2050, as is expected moving from partial to full operation and accounting for temperature-dependent demand fluctuations. Electrical demand is 62% of total demand, while thermal is 38%. Generated supply is estimated to increase from 221 MW (2025) to 866 MW (2035) and 1,077 MW (2050), accounting for capacity factors. Emissions associated with that demand will change from 185 ktCO2eq to 229 ktCO2eq then decrease to 201 ktCO2eq due to an increasingly “greener” technology mix predicted (i.e., no use of coal due to shutdowns of coal-fired power plants, and very little gas use by 2050). These methods and estimates provide a decision-making basis for government policy-making, energy planning, and technology supply for greenfield sites, as well as provide a platform to invite stakeholder engagement.

Legacies Matter: Exploring Social Acceptance of Pumped Storage Hydro in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Using electrical energy for an increasingly wide range of energy services (including lighting, heating, cooling, food storage, communications, and transport) requires grappling with the impacts of these systems on ecologies and societies. Renewable energy can provide less ecologically damaging electrical energy, but intermittency—the fact that solar requires the sun to shine and wind requires a breeze for energy to be produced—means having to create a way to store electrical energy to balance production and demand effectively. Underground storage hydro energy systems offer one way to achieve this, and one innovative approach involves repurposing abandoned underground mine shafts for pumped underground storage hydro (PUSH) systems. In this article, we present an initial foray into the social acceptance (SA) of the potential development of a PUSH facility. The article looks at the case of SA of a PUSH facility in a post-mining community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan through its three pillars: community acceptance, sociopolitical acceptance, and market acceptance. This case study reveals that community input into design considerations and economic participation are the primary drivers and may be required to achieve community acceptance. The study provides insights regarding the importance of engaging the community in discussions while planning for large energy infrastructure to spur renewable energy transition. The case study will further engage the audience in understanding the SA of energy storage systems when developed in brownfield sites (abandoned mines) instead of greenfield sites.

Understanding Private Preferences in Urban Development—Analysing Spatial Patterns of Food Discount Stores Locations in Switzerland

This paper examines the spatial pattern of food discount stores in Switzerland, where private actors made location decisions without interference from planning regulations until 2016. Using aerial images and a classification scheme with functional and morphological attributes, the study shows that the majority of discount stores were built in peripheral commercial areas or greenfield sites as solitary buildings, indicating a preference for minimal land acquisition costs and car orientation. Some integrated central locations were also chosen. The average density measured by floor area ratio was low. The results suggest that without planning intervention, private actors’ decisions would lead to sprawled settlement patterns with high ecological and societal costs. Further research is needed to explore the potential role of planning in mitigating this effect.

Editorial of Special Issue “Soil–Structure Interaction”

In today’s world, construction projects tend to be more complex due to one or a combination of the following reasons: climate change impacting design requirements; enhanced material properties; the scarcity of greenfield sites in highly built-up cities, leading to challenging underground construction; easily accessible scientific knowledge; the prowess of computational speed; the advent of new technologies driving innovation; and stringent health and safety requirements to safeguard the public [...]

Where ecologically ‘tis better to go brown than green: enhanced seagrass macrobenthic biodiversity within the canals of a brownfield coastal marina

At the start of the 21st century, a coastal residential-estate marina was developed on a previously degraded and polluted brownfield island site within Knysna estuarine bay, Garden Route National Park, South Africa, including the creation of 25 ha of new flow-through tidal canals. Canals near the larger entrance to this system now support permanently submerged beds of seagrass, which in turn support abundant macrobenthic invertebrates. In comparison with equivalent seagrass-associated assemblages present in natural channels around the island, those in the artificial marina canals were similarly structured and dominated by the same species, but the marina assemblages were significantly more species-rich (1.4 x on average) and were more abundant. Indeed, this area of marina supports the richest seagrass-associated macrofaunal biodiversity yet recorded from South Africa. The canals created de novo therefore now form a valuable addition to the bay’s marine habitat, in marked contrast to the generality that marinas developed on greenfield sites represent a net reduction in intertidal and shallow marine area and associated seagrass-associated benthos. If located and constructed appropriately, brownfield marina development and conservation of coastal marine biodiversity clearly need not be antithetical, and brownfield sites may provide opportunity for the location and management of ‘artificial marine micro-reserves’ or for the action of ‘other effective area-based conservation measures’ for soft-sediment faunas.

Strengthening resilience to flooding in Yangon using sustainable urban drainage systems

The paper assesses the potential for adopting sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) in Myanmar to mitigate flood risks related to urbanisation. Fieldwork in commercial and industrial developments and informal settlements was undertaken to identify flood problems, understand causes and assess the potential for SUDS in Yangon. Hydrological modelling was used to assess the benefits in terms of flood risk mitigation from a quantitative perspective and engagement with key stakeholders facilitated a consideration of the practical implications of SUDS adoption. The results demonstrate that on-site source control technologies can play a key role in mitigating flood risks for storm events with return frequencies of one in 10 years. Based on simulation results, the existing situation shows extensive flooding with 45% of the area flooding to a depth of 0.25 m, the SUDS scenario reduces this from 30 to 15% of the modelled catchment area. SUDS need to be adopted at scale for the benefits to be realised but the adoption of SUDS in existing developments is seen to be constrained due to practical and financial considerations. Therefore, green field sites offer the greatest potential for SUDS and a three-stage procedure based on flood risk and drainage impact assessments were developed to be incorporated in the existing planning applications process.

Risk assessment of industrial excess heat collaborations – Empirical data from new and ongoing installations

Excess heat could meet approximately 25% of the heat demand in the European building sector. However, the recovery of excess heat is low, which has been attributed to financial, technical and organisational barriers. There is limited information on the perceived risk exposure of excess heat recovery at different points in time, before undertaking the investment or after having undertaken the investment, and at locations with existing district heating networks or not (greenfield). This is unfortunate because experience can enable new collaborations. In this paper, we compare the perceived risk exposure of four greenfield and two ongoing industrial excess heat recovery collaborations. In doing so, we confirm previously identified barriers, such as difficulty to agree on the value of excess heat, the risk of a single heat source and lack of regulation. We also find that, with experience, changes to the excess heat-generating processes are increasingly important, whereas, greenfield sites find the lack of ‘know-how’ to be risky. However, the main conclusion from this paper is that the risks of industrial excess heat recovery collaborations appear to be over-emphasised. In fact, risk exposure of industrial activity can be reduced through industrial waste heat recovery as excess heat is characterized by limited price fluctuations and new environmental requirements from customers and authorities can be met proactively. Combining experience with a standardised excess heat recovery policy should significantly reduce the risk exposure of new collaborations.

Spatial comparisons of carbon sequestration for redwood and radiata pine within New Zealand

Accurate spatial characterisation of plantation carbon will become increasingly important as countries look to offset anthropogenic emissions and growers seek fair payment for carbon. Although much research has characterised carbon in existing forests, estimates are often required for unplanted areas to gain insight into the suitability of greenfield sites for carbon forests. Ideally, these predictions should be made for multiple species as matching of species to site is critical for maximising carbon sequestration. Using a novel prediction method that leverages stand level carbon prediction models, and utilises previously developed geospatial productivity surfaces, our objectives were to (i) develop national surfaces for New Zealand of carbon sequestration for redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and radiata pine (Pinus radiata) and (ii) compare carbon sequestration between these two species across a range of ages (30, 40 and 50 years) and stand densities (planting densities of 400, 650 and 900 stems ha−1).Spatial predictions of volume productivity show that suitable areas for radiata pine covered, respectively, 98% and 71% of the total land area in the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The suitable range for redwood was more restricted, and a subset of the radiata pine range, with 87% and 28% of total land area suitable for redwood, respectively, within the North and South Islands. Within regions suited to both species (i.e. the redwood range), the mean carbon for redwood growing for 40 years at 650 stems ha−1 (mid-range scenario), exceeded that of radiata pine by 23% (636 vs. 519 tonnes C ha−1) and 35% (540 vs. 399 tonnes C ha−1), respectively, within the North and South Islands. When compared across the larger range suitable for radiata pine, mean carbon for redwood, under the mid-range scenario, was 12% higher (569 vs. 508 tonnes C ha−1) than radiata pine within the North Island but 49% lower (204 vs. 402 tonnes C ha−1) within the South Island, as large areas of the South Island are too cold or dry for redwood, but still suitable for radiata pine. Averaged across all regions, within the area suitable for both species, percentage gains in carbon were markedly higher for redwood than radiata pine between ages of 30 and 50 years and between stand densities of 400 and 900 stems ha−1. Our results highlight the potential of redwood for further afforestation as this species is capable of high and sustained rates of carbon sequestration on suitable sites within New Zealand.

Real Options and Hidden Leverage∗

Financial leverage is customarily measured by the ratio of debt to net assets or debt to enterprise value. These measures usually understate effective leverage, because corporate commitments to ongoing and future capital investments create hidden leverage that acts like debt, but does not appear on book balance sheets.Hidden leverage acts like debt in two important ways. First, it increases financial risk. The more hidden leverage, the more volatile are stock market returns. Second, failure to meet hidden‐leverage obligations is costly. Failure may mean loss of investment opportunities or other damage to the company's long‐term prospects and value.In the case of growth companies, the most important source of hidden leverage is options for future investment. Investment opportunities are real call options, where the underlying asset is a real (as distinct from a financial) asset. Suppose an energy company has a good greenfield site and the opportunity to build a petrochemical plant when and if the time is ripe. The future decision will depend on the spread between feedstock and product prices, on energy and transportation costs, and on the resolution of other uncertainties that will determine the plant's future NPV. Though the plant may never be constructed, the option to construct it is valuable now.Most companies also have real put options: opportunities to abandon assets. Abandonment options are generally more abundant in mature or declining industries.Starting with insight that real call options are equivalent to leveraged positions in the underlying asset, the authors use option pricing concepts to calculate the amounts of option leverage. They show why high‐growth companies like Apple are effectively far more leveraged than their GAAP accounting balance sheets would suggest. Such analysis helps explain why companies like Apple also keep so much cash and marketable securities on hand.Growth (call) options typically have negative debt capacity, which displaces explicit borrowing. Abandonment (put) options have positive debt capacity, which allows the company to borrow more than its assets in place would normally support. This can explain the high debt ratios in many LBOs.The authors explore other effects of hidden leverage. For example, standard procedures for estimating the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) will overestimate WACC for growth firms and underestimate it for mature firms with valuable abandonment options.

Accurate and Rapid Forecasts for Geologic Carbon Storage via Learning-Based Inversion-Free Prediction

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one approach being studied by the U.S. Department of Energy to help mitigate global warming. The process involves capturing CO2 emissions from industrial sources and permanently storing them in deep geologic formations (storage reservoirs). However, CCS projects generally target “green field sites,” where there is often little characterization data and therefore large uncertainty about the petrophysical properties and other geologic attributes of the storage reservoir. Consequently, ensemble-based approaches are often used to forecast multiple realizations prior to CO2 injection to visualize a range of potential outcomes. In addition, monitoring data during injection operations are used to update the pre-injection forecasts and thereby improve agreement between forecasted and observed behavior. Thus, a system for generating accurate, timely forecasts of pressure buildup and CO2 movement and distribution within the storage reservoir and for updating those forecasts via monitoring measurements becomes crucial. This study proposes a learning-based prediction method that can accurately and rapidly forecast spatial distribution of CO2 concentration and pressure with uncertainty quantification without relying on traditional inverse modeling. The machine learning techniques include dimension reduction, multivariate data analysis, and Bayesian learning. The outcome is expected to provide CO2 storage site operators with an effective tool for timely and informative decision making based on limited simulation and monitoring data.

Why is determining peri-urban area boundaries critical for sustainable urban development?

In the age of climate change, for many cities around the globe seeking sustainable urban development is a key necessity. Nonetheless, many fail to develop effective policies when it comes to peri-urban growth, where these areas experience rapid land use transition, and become urbanized in a short period of time. Such transition poses a risk to sustainable urban development. This study provides evidence on the consequences of not clearly determining peri-urban area boundaries by placing a metropolitan region under the microscope. The study uses a remote sensing approach to determine peri-urban growth in the Brisbane Metropolitan Region, Australia. The changes that took place for a period of 30 years (1989–2019) are undertaken to map the level of peri-urbanization of the case study region, and the peri-urban area boundary is compared with the regional plan’s growth boundaries. The study findings inform that: (a) There exists a significant contrast between the actual peri-urban area boundary and the boundary estimate upon which the regional plan bases its policies; (b) The lack of a clearly demarcated peri-urban area boundary caused the transition of significant size greenfield sites to urban uses, and; (c) Not clearly determining peri-urban area boundaries jeopardized achieving the region’s sustainable development goals.

Housing Supply Limitations, Land Readjustment and the Ecological Performance of the Urban Landscape

Public authorities in developing economies typically have to deal with fiscal stress, lack of resources and an underdeveloped real estate industry. This poses a severe challenge at times of rapid urbanisation. Governments typically react to housing demand shocks by introducing policies that support the real estate market’s capacity to supply housing. One prominent policy in this respect is land readjustment. It has been promoted as a best practice and has been extensively discussed from an efficiency perspective; however, little is known about the ecological performance of the urban landscapes that typically emerge with this tool. Therefore, this study developed an assessment framework that allows discussion of the ecological performance of these neighbourhoods as an outcome of the reciprocal interaction between public sector initiatives and real estate market responses. Based on a LEED ND assessment of the cases of Taipei and Seoul, the research identifies four institutional drivers of ecological costs. First, public agencies tend to neglect the ecological costs of greenfield site developments. Second, public agencies to not employ policies that promoe brownfield developments. Third, a weak public sectors’ negotiating position can result in an ecologically inefficient urban pattern. And finally, the public sector’s construction standardisation policies can impose real estate market limitations and wasteful use of resources in the long run.

Piloting During a Pandemic

Key TakeawaysFour pilot teams shared experiences with piloting during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emphasizing that thoughtful planning streamlines the piloting process while mitigating the risk of transmitting illness.Remote access to and control of pilot equipment, along with the use of virtual communication platforms, enabled teams to successfully perform pilot‐scale studies.Operating pilot systems through the pandemic allowed teams to respond to drastic changes on a small scale to mitigate risks around full‐scale processes at the treatment plant.

Design acceptance criteria for operating open-pit slopes: An update

ABSTRACT Open-pit slope engineering involves balancing economic imperatives and risk, where an optimum pit slope design seeks to safely steepen the pit slope angles to minimize the mining of waste, therefore maximizing ore recovery. Open-pit Design Acceptance Criteria (DAC) had been proposed and adopted by industry, and the Guidelines for Open Pit Slope Design, published in 2009, finally provided a consistent set of guidelines. Since the publication of these guidelines, it has been the industry experience that practical DAC requires consideration of multiple levels of design confidence, ranging from highly uncertain greenfield sites to mature operations; the unique nature of consequences associated with open pit wall failures as opposed to other civil and mining structures; and differences between operators’ risk appetite. This article presents the state of practice for inter-ramp and overall open-pit slope design in the mining industry and develops flexible DAC for operating pits that addresses the considerations outlined. The criteria are rooted in robust risk tolerance principles, previously adopted criteria, a database of open-pit designs, and mathematical validation for criteria in terms of both Factor of Safety (FoS) and Probability of Failure (PoF).

The production and consumption of land use planning: A neo-institutional economic perspective & three Taiwan case studies of planning layering

Hitherto research by planning researchers on the economics of land use planning have sought to interpret and re-interpret the role of such planning as a non-market measure to: (a) remedy market failure; (b) delineate and re-delineate property rights to land; and (c) determine the economic impact (effectiveness) of (a) and (b) on, say, efficiency (welfare), property values, and development. This paper develops the thesis from a neo-institutional economic perspective that the land use planning process is not just an indicative exercise of plan preparation, promulgation, and interpretation, but also a real production and consumption process. The former for laying out or platting a greenfield site is explained by elaborating on the analogy of cutting a diamond, while the latter is explained in terms of the physical features of public goods other than being informational. It then proceeds to how a formal de jure layout imposed by the state as a kind of corrective for an antecedent bottom-up (and in this sense “spontaneous”) de facto pre-existing layout constrains subsequent development of a place. Three Taiwanese examples are used to show how pre-existing ‘cuts’, to places that varied in terms of population and modernity, may constrain and survive subsequent cuts that seek to modernize and reform the former. Reasons based on transaction costs are offered for the key observations.