Link to Session Platform

Chairs(s):

John Lauermann, CUNY Graduate Center

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Description:

Organized by: Zoe Alexander (zalexander@gradcenter.cuny.edu), John Lauermann
(jlauermann@mec.cuny.edu), and Khouloud Mallak (kmallak@gradcenter.cuny.edu)

Capitalist cities often operate a two-tiered system of urban planning: one set of rules for most
people, and a different set for elite investors, large developers, and politically well-connected
homeowners. The latter circumvents de jure land use law with a de facto ‘VIP’ system, cobbled
together by exploiting loopholes, vetoing initiatives, lobbying for exemptions, and sometimes
flouting the law altogether. This paper session brings together a range of perspectives on the systemic role of elite capture in land use planning, including (but not limited to) NIMBYism, lobbying, loophole exploitation, opportunity hoarding, rent seeking, cronyism, and patronage politics. Are these isolated stories of elites run amok, or do they play a more fundamental role in capitalist urbanization? How is urban planning imbricated in class formation and reproduction? And in an age of extreme economic inequality, how should elite land use practices be mitigated?

Paper topics include but are not limited to:
● Gentrification and residential segregation
● Suburbanization and secessionary politics
● NIMBYism, opportunity hoarding, rent-seeking
● Growth coalitions and entrepreneurial cities
● Housing, infrastructure, and their financialization
● Critical and radical planning alternatives

Non-Presenting Participants Agenda