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been given to Development Corporations- usually on area of land identified at the time that they are set up. Urban regeneration has often been a goal of development corporations but other objectives are possible. For example the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was set up to manage public sector involvement in the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London. It is to provide the venues and infrastructure. In conjunction with the ondon Development Agency (LDA), the ODA has powers of land acquisition, including compulsory purchace.

The income from the sale of some assets such as the Olympic village and development land is part of the Olympic budget: land sales have been estimated as having a value of £1.8 billion.

In more ordinary cases, planning permission is used to finance "worthy" projects such as new college buildings. The York Colleges' main buildings have recently been rebuilt, in part using the money raised from the sale of its former site for domestic housing. The added value here is, of course, the grant of planning permission that has enhanced the value of the land. The University of York is funding building of its new campus by using the value generated from the business parks that it constructs.

In cases such as these, the value of planning permission is tied to a worthy cause (regeneration, the Olympics, education & etc.). These situations are proxies for hypothecated taxes. ‘Hypothecated taxes’ is the usual term for earmarked taxes. A development levy that must be spent on education, for example, is clearly a hypothecated tax. The grant of planning permission for an educational purpose has the same net effect so should be regarded as hypothecation.

Historically, hypothecation is not well regarded in certain government departments. But hypothecation of the value created in granting planning permission does have the advantage of being opaque. It is hard to justify saying, "York Colleges have been awarded an extra £30 million of public funds", still harder to say, "York University has been awarded £100 million". If such numbers appear on balance sheets, they are not easily identified as public expenditure. This is one advantage of using planning permission as one method to finance renewal cities.

The geographical proximity of supported causes to a particular development contributes to opaqueness because the development

may increase the value of planning permission. For example, the value of a business park at the University of York will be increased because it is located in an extension to the University campus.

A renewal city will have a "community brand" that will increase its value. It will attract inhabitants who are enthusiastic about the moral purpose of the city. In general, people are prepared to pay more to live in an attractive environment. In the case of a renewal city, the attractiveness of the environment will be measured not only in terms of its physical attributes of location, layout and architecture but in the ambience that is created by its sense of community guided moral purpose.

Local democracy and the objectives of renewal cities

Development corporations and agencies are usually place-specific but do not start with a local democratic structure. Instead, they are founded as bodies appointed by national government. However, after the initial development phase, it is usual that control is passed over to local democracy.

In general, the governance of renewal cities should follow this route. The UK government, if it has parliamentary support, can change local democratic structures. But in allowing a transition from a development status to one governed by local democracy, the goals of any particular renewal city should be recognised.

In the case of the Hoo Peninsula Renewal City, it would be recognised that the government has allocated valuable resources, particularly the wealth generated through planning permission in exchange for commitments made for the benefit of the common good. It would be a case of moral hazard if local democratic processes were allowed to subvert these commitments for their own gain.

Carbon Capture and Storage

The proposal for a large coal fired power station at Kingsnorth on the Medway Estuary in Kent has engendered much criticism. In production, this power station could provide 3.6% of the UK's electricity. However, it will also generate more carbon dioxide than that produced by Ghana, a country of 22 million people. Nonetheless, the greenhouse gases produced by power stations currently being built in the USA and China will dwarf these emissions.

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