Real Estate and Global Urban History

Real estate is the foundation of modern cities, but it has largely been ignored by historians. This element examines the city as a property-owned space, defining real estate as a technology of (dis)possession and using it to move across scales of analysis. It combines territorial embeddedness with more wide-ranging institutional relationships to chart a route to an urban history that allows the city to speak as a global agent and artifact.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 75 pages
Publication date: 26 August 2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The cornerstone of contemporary cities is capitalist private property in land and buildings, known as real estate. It is the foundation of their development, a key component of theoretical work on the urban environment, and a major source of political contention. Despite its significance, real estate lacks a comprehensive history. This Element explores the modern city as a property-defined space, defining real estate as a technology of (dis)possession. It employs this framework to analyze real estate at various scales, from the local spatiality of specific built spaces to the networks of legal, political, and economic imperatives that shape property and operate at national and international levels. This combination of territorial embeddedness with broader institutional relationships provides a path toward an urban history that enables the city to speak as a global agent and artifact while still acknowledging the role of states and local contexts.

The cornerstone of contemporary cities is capitalist private property in land and buildings, known as real estate. It is the foundation of their development, a key component of theoretical work on the urban environment, and a major source of political contention. Despite its significance, real estate lacks a comprehensive history. This Element explores the modern city as a property-defined space, defining real estate as a technology of (dis)possession. It employs this framework to analyze real estate at various scales, from the local spatiality of specific built spaces to the networks of legal, political, and economic imperatives that shape property and operate at national and international levels. This combination of territorial embeddedness with broader institutional relationships provides a path toward broader institutional relationships provides a path toward an urban history that enables the city to speak as a global agent and artifact while still acknowledging the role of states and local contexts.

Weight: 146g
Dimension: 152 x 228 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108797115