Land readjustment refers to the reorganization of the ownership and possession of land. This reorganization can be implemented under private law, for example by purchasing, exchanging or leasing land; it can also be regulated under public law. The possibilities for regulation under public law in urban areas serve to implement the planning projects drawn up by the municipality (development plans), in which private building areas and areas for other public facilities (daycare centers, schools, etc.) are defined in addition to local traffic and green spaces.

As voluntary implementation of development plans is often only possible to a limited extent due to the different interests of private property owners and the public sector, the municipality makes use of the land readjustment instruments of reallocation and simplified reallocation standardized in the German Building Code . This enables the redesign of building and other uses to be implemented in accordance with the provisions of the development plan.

If an agreement can be reached between all parties involved in the land readjustment, an (officially managed) voluntary land readjustment can also be carried out. Reallocation and simplified reallocation are carried out by the reallocation office set up by the municipality .