Next TSF - Should land be a commodity?

Last fall Durham County accepted a private survey of Jordan Lake's critical watershed, funded by interests that benefit from the survey and want to build a large mixed-use development (751 Assemblage), near the intersection of 751 and Stagecoach Road, very close to the Lake.  Two weeks ago the State Division of Water Quality allowed this decision to stand, but the County Commissioners still have to vote for it once more later this spring.  This is also a water quality issue, and the Lake is or will be a drinking water source for much of the Triangle.  For more details, see this week's Independent Weekly and online articles at www.indyweek.com.  There are many other examples from throughout the Triangle.

How do land use problems like development of an environmentally sensitive area relate to the capitalist view of land as a commodity (something created to be sold), rather than as a place that has intrinsic human and natural uses?  What interests dominate planning in the Triangle and how, and why do they so often push bad proposals?

This meeting of the non-partisan Triangle Socialist Forum will be Wednesday, March 4th, at 7pm at the Peoples Channel (300 AC South Elliot Road, near Village Plaza and Whole Foods).