Land for sale?

With war being out of fashion and colonialism a relic of a bygone era- how is a country is to acquire more land?

Even on a small scale, purchasing property that is owned by multiple independent parties is a messy business. In the middle of this satellite photo, you will notice fifteen five-acre homesites which were surrounded by open land twenty years ago. Developers in the home building business can spend years negotiating with neighbors to sell in unison.

These homes also happen to be fairly substantial. This just means that their values as stand-alone parcels are strong which pushes the buyout price higher than say a dilapidated tear-down property. Over time, however, if an owner thinks it is inevitable that their home will be torn down, they refrain from improving the property. It feels like a waste of their money. When the exterior starts to look run down, the neighboring properties are also affected. And slowly, the owners succumb to the pressures of an expanding metro, get used to the idea of living elsewhere and sell out to a builder.

This story is a way of suggesting a scenario where land could be sold between countries.

1. If the land is being used in an obsolete manner, owners over time could be persuaded to convert to a higher use.
2. If the buyer country had more infrastructure to offer, the owners’ material situation improves with the sale. It has become fashionable to take shots at British colonialism, but no one seems to complain that the occupied countries received British passports and the privileges it bestows.
3. Plan on the process taking time, as in generational time.
4. As long as the land is low value and underutilized, there is most like a buyout price (speculative, of course!)