Shifting land value capture instruments for the Grand Paris Express metro: Metropolitan governance, local trade-offs and urban outcomes

In a context of budgetary austerity, land value capture (LVC) is increasingly promoted globally as a key source to bridge the financial gap for infrastructure investment. This article examines the LVC mechanisms adopted for the Grand Paris Express, one of Europe’s largest ongoing urban transit projects, led by the state-owned Société des Grands Projets (SGP). It combines LVC literature with the sociology of policy instruments to analyse the selection and implementation of LVC tools, along with their outcomes on urban governance and spatial planning. Drawing on documentary analysis and interviews with representatives of the SGP and transport and planning institutions, the study highlights a shift in LVC from a tax-based to a development-based instrument, resulting in the launching of around eighty real estate projects on land acquired for the metro. This shift both reflects and shapes the broader reconfiguration of metropolitan governance and evolving models of infrastructure financing. It is bolstered by the SGP’s transformation into an entrepreneurial actor, embracing new operational models that amplify the role of major private developers and embed market logics in public land development. While the ongoing projects—shaped by local trade-offs and marked by heterogeneity—support transit-oriented development and housing production near stations, the design of the development-based instrument undermines the provision of affordable housing. Thus, the paper draws attention to the inherent biases of the LVC instruments and to the potential for adverse socio-spatial outcomes, calling for further research on the interconnections between infrastructure financing, LVC policy instrumentation and urban planning. • The paper bridges the Land Value Capture (LVC) literature with policy instrumentation approaches and explores the case of the Grand Paris Express metro project. • It traces the shift by Société des Grands Projets from tax-based to development-based LVC tools, enabling over 100 real estate projects on metro-acquired public land. • It demonstrates how this shift reflects and shapes broader transformations in Paris metropolitan governance. • It analyses the implementation process and local trade-offs shaping real estate projects. • It discusses the impacts of LVC instruments on urban governance, spatial planning, and affordable housing near future metro stations.