Legal Control Over City Planing Power

Real estate has become increasingly the most important component of China's urban residents' property, while the city government who has the power of urban planning relies heavily on "Land Finance ". This conflict between the private right on land and the power of urban planning amounts to a relationship full of tension which makes the legal control over the power of urban planning an important and urgent task. To achieve that goal, it is necessary to establish a clear and accurate understanding from the practical perspective, as a prerequisite, on the nexus between urban planning and land development, the constitution and operation of the power of urban planning and the way of legal control over it.The urban planning in China consists of two main models: the model of project construction planning for the purpose of project construction, embodied by specific instructions and the model of general regulatory planning for the purpose of land development, embodied by general regulatory rules. These two models formed in different historical periods respectively and coexist in practice. The centralization of power and direct intervention are characteristics of power structure and function of construction planning while local Autonomy and indirect interference are characteristics of general regulatory planning. In recent years, a new planning model characterized by power sharing and cooperative decision, namely participatory planning gradually emerged. The planning supervision characterized by centralization of power and inspection also displayed a new trend.Under the context of centralization of power at the state level and decentralization of power at the local level, two major ways of legal control over the power of urban planning have formed: political orientation plus the mass line and economic orientation plus legal control. The former reflected as political orientation in industrialization and participation of the masses; the latter aimed at economic growth and the pursuit of rule by law. However, both of them failed to completely solve the problem of power control. As a result, two new modes of legal control emerged: the mode of cooperative decision plus power sharing as well as planning supervision plus inspection of the power of urban planning. The former mode is constituted by impartial and diverse-positioned decision makers, supported by legal, restrained procedure of decision-making, reflecting the deepening of decentralization of power of the society. The latter mode is based on professional supervisors and outside inspection, implementing through a specific procedure. It indicates the return of centralization of the government.This leads to a diverse field of urban planning law with pre-modern, modern and post-modern legal systems. Under this background, it should be the first priority to do research on legal control over the power of urban planning from a realistic perspective, set a goal and select a path. The neutrality of planning and the rule of law should be the most important initial target while the gradual implementation of the reform is the feasible path.