Link to Session Platform

Chairs(s):

Daniel Sanfelici, Universidade Federal Fluminense

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Description:

Economic and urban geographers have dedicated increasing attention to the involvement of financial actors in the production of the urban, such as housing, infrastructures, and real estate. In terms of housing, scholars have highlighted the consequences of the increasing production of housing through financial intermediaries, mainly in the private market (Fields, 2018; Gotham, 2012; Shimbo, 2012; Rolnik, 2015), and the increasing indebtedness among households (Fix, 2011; Rolnik, 2015; Sanfelici, 2013; Aalbers, 2008). When referring to the production and management of infrastructures, the main focus has been its conversion into financial assets and sources of stable returns (Hebb & Sharma, 2014; O'Neill, 2013; Knight & Sharma, 2015). Finally, in the real estate sector, literature has focused on the relationship between commercial real estate market growth, the corporate sector demand for offices and the global markets (Lizieri, 2009), and the growing involvement of institutional investors in the commercial real estate market (Theurillat et al, 2010; Guirronet et al, 2016; Halbert, 2013). Across these studies, however, less attention has been paid to how the activities of financial investors play out on the ground, particularly in cities located in Latin America. In this regard, we seek to provide a discussion for "ground-based" analysis of financialization and the urban, bringing newer perspectives on: How financial vehicles and instruments backed in urban assets are structured? How are the newer debt relations set up in order to produce the urban space? Finally, what distinctive urban and financial actors and arrangements have emerged in the financialization process in Latin America?

Non-Presenting Participants Agenda