The private property occupies a special place in the system of social relations. The participants in property relations are states, classes, and individuals. The history of human development has confirmed that there is a deep relationship between human economic behavior and social relations. All issues of economic life are closely related to the concept of property, which, however, belongs to the fields of law, morality, and philosophy. This paper aims to analyze the relationship between property, law, and the use of territorial resources in the history of mankind and today.
Since ancient times, there has been a discussion both about the concept of private property itself and the forms, law, and place of property in the system of social relations. This concept is used in a wide variety of meanings. In some cases, when talking about property, people talk about economic relations (Lyster et al., 2007). Over the centuries that preceded the formation of developed forms of economic society, the concept of property was either not used at all or applied in meanings that were far from those that are accepted today. However, even in those days, one of the tendencies in the understanding of property as possession was formed.
In his article “Law, property, and the geography of violence: The frontier, the survey, and the grid,” Nicholas Blomley writes that property is directly related to violence. It means that it results from seizure and is sanctioned by law. Property relations, both tangible and intangible, are determined by society (Blomley, 2003). Private property everywhere arose through the usurpation of public tribal property as a result of the forcible seizure of foreign land. Therefore, it is closely related to the concept of violence or the threat of violence for violation of property rights. Later, this trend developed in the context of understanding property as a right.
People began to fence their property against violence and conquest. For example, in his article “Making private property: Enclosure, common right and the work of hedges,” Nicholas Blomley writes about the importance of hedges for saving private property. Hedges began to appear with the development of human society when people left the caves and began to form settlements (Blomley, 2007). Where there is a border, there will accordingly be a fence. From a philosophical point of view, it is closely related to the inner need of a person for order and structuring since without metaphysical boundaries, it is simply impossible to build a society. The settlements, fortresses, and castles were gigantic fences designed to protect the community and its territory.
Through the institution of property, by determining the optimal, most effective subject of nature’s belonging, the prerequisites for progressive development are laid. The rational use of the property and the formation of an ecologically safe environment are of great importance today. Thus, measures for urban planning make it possible to harmonize the economic, social, and environmental areas of city life. As cited in Environmental and Planning Law in New South Wales, Australia builds its economy on sustainable development and an impeccable environment (Lyster et al., 2007). Australian environmental and planning law meets the needs of the present but does not jeopardize the life of future generations.
The analyzed works are relevant to the contemporary ecological issues since the modern stage of the development of mankind makes people use property and territorial resources in a new and responsible way. The peculiarity of modernity is the crisis in all the important areas of life: the economy, social relations, the interaction between society and nature, culture, and as a result, the crisis of civilization as a whole. The main conflicts in cities are related to urban planning. The objects of disputes are land allocation and options for territorial zoning about which the interests of federal authorities, municipalities, and individuals collide. Thus, the ecological state of the territory essentially depends on the chosen option for the use of the land property.
References
Blomley, N. (2003). Law, property, and the geography of violence: The frontier, the survey, and the grid. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 93(1), 121-141.
Blomley, N. (2007). Making private property: Enclosure, common right and the work of hedges. Rural History, 18(1), 1-21.
Lyster, R., Lipman, Z., Franklin, N., Wiffen, G., & Pearson, L. (2007). Environmental and planning law in New South Wales. Federation Press.