Title: Who owns our cities – and why this urban takeover should concern us all Post by: TheIrishman on November 24, 2015, 06:42:15 PM https://i.imgur.com/Z6GLAPO.jpg
Who owns our cities – and why this urban takeover should concern us all http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/24/who-owns-our-cities-and-why-this-urban-takeover-should-concern-us-all (http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/24/who-owns-our-cities-and-why-this-urban-takeover-should-concern-us-all) << Does the massive foreign and national corporate buying of urban buildings and land that took off after the 2008 crisis signal an emergent new phase in major cities? From mid-2013 to mid-2014, corporate buying of existing properties exceeded $600bn (£395bn) in the top 100 recipient cities, and $1trillion a year later – and this figure includes only major acquisitions (eg. a minimum of $5m in the case of New York City). I want to examine the details of this large corporate investment surge, and why it matters. Cities are the spaces where those without power get to make a history and a culture, thereby making their powerlessness complex. If the current large-scale buying continues, we will lose this type of making that has given our cities their cosmopolitanism. Indeed, at the current scale of acquisitions, we are seeing a systemic transformation in the pattern of land ownership in cities: one that alters the historic meaning of the city. Such a transformation has deep and significant implications for equity, democracy and rights. >> Title: Re: Who owns our cities – and why this urban takeover should concern us all Post by: manis on November 25, 2015, 05:40:45 PM I wouldn't be too bothered.
Property is another bubble waiting to burst. If large corporates want to take most of this pain, they can go ahead and have it. |