Introduction: Changing environmental conditions, property rights and land-use planning

Changing environmental conditions - whether triggered by climate change or not - have an impact on land use. This impact can have positive or negative effects. In some cases changing environmental conditions creates winners - e.g. better crop growth, tapping into new resources, shortening trade routes, extended (summer) seasons for recreational purposes. However, in most cases, the impact is negative, making current land use more difficult or even impossible. Examples such as land avulsion and flooding, but also changes of touristic or agricultural potential of areas show the negative effects of changing environmental conditions on land use. Negative effects not only influence the land use, but also tend to constrain property rights. Constraints on property rights range from diminishing land values to the disappearance of rights, often disadvantaging landowners economically or depriving them of livelihood altogether.