Beyond Agriculture: Alternative Geographies of Rural Land Investment and Place Effects across the United Kingdom

Nicola Livingstone, Nick Gallent, Iqbal Hamiduddin, Meri Juntti and Phoebe Stirling
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Nicola Livingstone: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Nick Gallent: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Iqbal Hamiduddin: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Meri Juntti: School of Law, Middlesex University London, London NW4 4BT, UK
Phoebe Stirling: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Global land ownership patterns have been shifting in recent decades, as institutional and non-traditional investors redirect capital into rural areas. Such investment is a stimulating alternative for innovative profit-driven land uses that move beyond agriculture. This paper explores how ‘new money’ economies have created place effects in three rural case studies across the United Kingdom, through concepts of built, natural, social, and economic capital. The case studies are informed by secondary research, site visits, and interviews, providing snapshots of investment impact. They represent diverse transformations in rural land use via new forms of direct investment, active investment, and processes of financing rather than financialisation, with distinct spatial and temporal characteristics. The case studies include new wine production in Kent, England; transforming the Menie Estate into Trump International Golf Links Scotland (TIGLS); and farm diversification in Northern Ireland. The conclusions tell three investment stories, where place effects reflect the dichotomies, contestation, and symbiosis between investors and local contexts. New land uses create place effects where economic potential often conflicts with natural capital impacts, although they foster knowledge creation and exchange. The underlying values of the investors and their navigation of local politics also have key roles to play in shaping the built, natural, social, and economic place effects.

Keywords: direct active investment; rural land; transformative uses; United Kingdom; financing; diversification; place effects; capitals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:11:p:1153-:d:667624

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