The Speculative City

Emergent Forms and Norms of the Built Environment

By: Cecilia L. Chu (Editor), Shenjing He (Editor)

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Paperback | 22 February 2022

At a Glance

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282 Pages

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22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5

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By attending to the divergent forces and actors involved in property development in different geopolitical contexts, The Speculative City illustrates both the novelty and historical continuity of urbanisation in the twentieth-first century.

The Speculative City explores property speculation as a key aspect of financialisation and its role in reshaping the contemporary built environment. The book offers a series of case studies that encompass a range of cities whose urban fabrics have undergone significant transformation in recent years.

While the forms of these developments shared many similarities, their trajectories and social outcomes were contingent upon existing planning and policy frameworks and the historical roles assumed by the state and the private sector in housing and welfare provision. By paying close attention to the forces and actors involved in property development, this book underscores that the built environment has played an integral part in the shaping of new values and collective aspirations while facilitating the spread of financial logics in urban governance. It also shows that these dynamics represent a larger shift of politics and culture in the ongoing production of urban space and prompts reflections on future trajectories of finance-led property speculation.

About the Authors

Cecilia L. Chu is an associate professor in the Division of Landscape Architecture at the University of Hong Kong.

Shenjing He is professor and associate dean in the Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong.

Industry Reviews

The Speculative City stands out for its geographical scope across six world regions and its focus on the physical environment, which has often been marginalized in urban studies. This collection is a must-read for students looking for inspiring paths that lead to meaningful places.

- You-tien Hsing, Professor of Geography and Chair of Global Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Andrew Carnegie said that speculation was a parasite 'feeding upon values, creating none.' That may still be true, but as the contributors to this first-rate collection show, the values upon which contemporary urban speculation feeds are as much cultural as they are economic, and they are incredibly diverse rather than singular. Combining interdisciplinary perspectives and a wide array of cases from around the world, The Speculative City presents fresh and original takes on this age-old phenomenon, from urban megaprojects to the subdivision of apartments, and much in between.

- Jamie Peck, Canada Research Chair in Urban and Regional Political Economy, University of British Columbia

Two kinds of speculation shape cities: Architects and planners conjecture about the future and imagine spatial forms to accommodate it. Investors conjecture about financial returns from projects delivering imagined forms. Governments and markets speculate in both ways and jointly determine the outcome. The chapters in this collection tell compelling stories about this risky dance.

- Christopher J. Webster, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong

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