I like all the rules except for, maybe, 3. I definitely agree that we went overboard with land claims/HOA thing in the desert and that really dissuaded the sort of urban growth we saw with Bridgeport, but at the same time, I'm a little nervous about trying to plan a giant project (like Hogwarts + Hogsmeade) while worrying about somebody else building on the grounds I'm planning around.
Maybe we can do land claims with restrictions? Like, no claims for the town area, just for the big out-of-town projects, and only one claim per person at a time, to keep people from forgetting about their "someday..." claims?