Incentives for accomplishing redevelopment include tax incentives and abatements for rehabilitation, infill of existing open spaces where infrastructure already exists and incentives for urban renewal and brownfields where costs of demolition and cleanup are heavily subsidized. Critics of this option suggest that plans to lure everyone back to the downtowns will not necessarily stop urban sprawl, and using more public resources to solve the problems in core downtown areas may divert resources from addressing the expansion needs in more suburban settings. The flight to the suburbs has been a 50-year trend that reflects where more people really want to live, if given a choice. Manage growth on the rural-urban fringe. Under managed growth, regional planning and development standards and incentives are established to encourage developers to increase density, reduce open space conversion and utilize public resources more efficiently.
Some states draw boundaries around prime areas for future development.
Open space areas outside of these urban boundaries are off limits to development. Other states use planning and zoning authority to specify mandatory residential density requirements and design standards for various land use designations. Some states like Florida use graduated impact fees to encourage developers to increase density and utilize existing infrastructure first. Finally, tax increment financing and tax abatements could be limited to prime development areas and targeted to encourage higher density middle-income developments. The research on planned growth shows that it results in higher density development, greater utilization of existing infrastructure and less farmland conversion, but this option also means landowners may have less individual freedom in determining the use of their land.