The Study on the System of Joint Development of Mass Rapid Transit

The system of joint development of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is identified as the development of land for routes, depots, stations, and land adjacent to the MRT by the public and private partnership. The purpose of joint development provides the great convenience of transportation and enhances prosperous commercial activities which increases public''s willingness to use MRT and to boost business prosperity in nearby area. The process of joint development of MRT, in the first of all, the competent authority secures lands via purchase agreements or zone expropriations. Secondly, the competent authority seeks investors who supply funds to build the real estate, and the competent authority, the investor and land owners share the valuation of equity allocation together. Legislators amend the law about taking private lands to public property which accelerates the process of joint development of MRT. Actually, this amending of the law decreases the rights of land owners because land owners make contracts with the competent authority as the main participants and land owners take part in the whole process of the joint development of MRT until the valuation of equity allocation before the amending in 2004 . The competent authority secures lands via purchase agreements or zone expropriations that land owners lose the ownership of lands. Land owners don''t have the rights to take part in the whole process of joint development of MRT and no opportunities to express opinions after the amending in 2004 . In my point of view, the joint development of MRT should have three parties including the competent authority, the investor, land owners, and the rights of land owners must be pay more attention. Besides, I suggest on the amending of Article 7 of The Mass Rapid Transit Act. The process of joint development involves many issues about the interests between public and private, the project of investment, complex legal relations with the concerned parties, the competent authority obtains lands by means of different methods, the institution of seeking the investor, the second best applicant replaces the best applicant, the valuation of equity allocation, the legal nature of various types of contracts made by the competent authority. The Research analyses and discusses those questions as stated above in relation to the case study on MRT of Xindian Depot. To sum up, the research proposes some recommendations for the system of joint development of MRT.