Public Asset Corporation: A New Vehicle for Urban Regeneration and Infrastructure Finance

This article presents a hybrid model of managing and financing urban redevelopment and public infrastructure: the Public Asset Corporation (PAC). The model has evolved through the example of Copenhagen City & Port Development Corporation (By og Havn, n.d.), a publicly owned privately managed institution that leverages public assets through land value capture and Public-Private Partnerships. In addition, City & Port leases and sells land to private investors at market prices. The yield serves public benefit by funding a city-wide metro system. Through a mandate by national law to always maximize the yield, City & Port is sheltered from political interference. Thus, it is the blend between public and private ownership, management, and financing that distinguishes the PAC model as it evolved from the case study of City & Port. In contrast, much literature on public ownership and management focuses upon the operational inefficiencies, bureaucracy, and lack of accountability of public organizations, while literature on private organizations is concerned with the amassment of profits accrued by private investors, despite originating from profit generating public sector-driven initiatives, including value appreciation arising from re-zoning, infrastructure, and other public investments.