Land values have become extremely controversial in many developing countries. In part, the reason is simply that land prices have been increasing rapidly, specially in and near urban areas. In part, however, controversy stems from the special characteristics of land. Being a non produced input, land should not yield a return to its owners in the view of many people. For these two reasons, governments have intervened more in land markets than in any other market in most countries. This paper attempts to sort out some key issues regarding land values, land use and government intervention, specially as they relate to urbanization in developing countries.