This paper attempts to consolidate the existing empirical eviden ce on the land use impacts of rail rapid transit. A framework for organizing the literature is developed based on the objects of study, analytical techniques and methodological approaches used. Thirty-seven studies are reviewed co vering transit's impacts on property values, development and vacancy rates, changes in land use types, and population and emplo yment growth. Ten recurring themes in the studies ' fin dings are highligh ted. A ccessibility to transit tends to effect an average residential property value premium of six to seven percent, but o verall land use changes are typically small and require the presence of several complementary factors, such as supportive local land use policies and existing demand for high density development.

It is often the burden of an introduction to find a unifying thread or theme in the material to follow. In a field such as planning, where academic research spans everything from the role of trees in urban beautification to the effects of globalization on regional economies, the synthesizing task is often unrewarding.

At first glance, the potpourri of theories and issues in this year's Journal articles offer no such emergent themes. The scope of the articles ranges from urban politics to social organization to multinational firm location to the relationship of land use and transit. Yet each contribution offers an argument that spatial policies, processes, and structures, however evolving, continue to shape modern society.