Datta, Ayona; (2024) The geographies of housing assetization (2023) Plenary Commentary. [Review]. Urban Geography , 45 (10) pp. 1730-1735. 10.1080/02723638.2024.2417020.

Text Datta_Commentary on ROLNIK Plenary.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 9 December 2025. Download (99kB)

Abstract

Raquel Rolnik’s plenary lecture on housing financialization acrodass Latin America gives us fascinating insights into how housing assetization, rental platformization and global landlordism are inextricably tied to each other. For Rolnik, housing now is the new frontier of accumulation and precarity which is made possible through the support of the state. In this commentary I will engage with Rolnik’s argument on three specific aspects and how they might impact her analysis–the role of the state in a digital era, the stickiness of global platforms, and the geographies of housing assetization. I will argue that we need a deeper understanding of the role of the digitalizing state in regulating platform assetization as part of the entire ecosystem of property relations that begin with land accumulation. This suggests that seemingly placeless global platforms are sticky and relies upon a steady supply of fungible land and labor in local contexts. While land and housing are associated with each other, I argue that there are differences between assetization of public land and publicly owned land, where the former is seen as more desirable for privatization and extractive capture.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONCSVXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item