Property Rights in Transition
This MIT OpenCourseWare course looks at who gets to own real property and how that ownership is defined, communicated, and enforced. It compares economic, political, and sociological theories of property rights, from Lockean liberal foundations to critiques grounded in planning and public policy, and asks what bundle of liberties a property title actually confers. Topics include eminent domain, zoning, land use regulation, and the tension between private control and collective claims on land. Materials include a syllabus, assigned readings drawn from legal theory, economics, and urban planning scholarship, and discussion-based sessions built around case studies of property disputes and reform. The course is aimed at students in urban studies and planning who need a theoretical grounding before tackling land use policy, and it treats property rights as a live political question rather than a settled legal category.