But if we are to rethink the use of land, does this also mean new ideas about ownership? Neil McInroy, chief executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, is working on an agenda to shape local economic strategies for land, property and other assets to be held in commons – creating “a means by which wealth can by held by and for the people”. This offers an antidote to the problem of wealth being “extracted and disappearing offshore”.
“Land and property is key,” he tells Co-op News. “We need to change ownership; that means less extraction of wealth.
“If land is held by a corporate interest, its value doesn’t go to the people, it goes to that interest. But if that land is held by a co-op, or a municipality or a community interest company, it locks that wealth as an asset for the people.”
He agrees that this idea has implications for environmental stewardship. “How can you, as an individual, own a peat bog? The idea is absurd; we as a species are guardians of it. We need to cherish it and not see as just a name on a piece of paper – we need to see it as a commons, which is perpetually overseen by everyone.”
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