In this book leading experts discuss the public nature of private property and challenge traditional conceptions of private property. They present a range of views on both the meaning of private property, and on the ability, some might say the requirement, of the state to regulate it. What rights to intrude does the public have in what is generally accepted as private property? The answer, perhaps surprisingly to some, is that the public has not only a significant interest in regulating the use of private property but also in defining it, and establishing its contour and texture.