IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/urbpla/v4y2019i4p43-61.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Housing in the Neoliberal City: Large Urban Developments and the Role of Architecture

Author

Listed:
  • Merryan Majerowitz

    (Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion IIT, Israel)

  • Yael Allweil

    (Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion IIT, Israel)

Abstract

Large urban developments (LUDs) have been driving contemporary neoliberal urban housing development worldwide, marked by scholarly and public discourses on the transition from housing as a basic civil right to housing as investment channel and financial good. Based on interviews, documentary films, architectural drawings and planning documents, this article examines the interrelations between architectural and entrepreneurial factors shaping LUDs in the contemporary neoliberal context. Analyzing several LUDs in Israel, Denmark and Spain, this article unpacks the paradox of neoliberal housing development—namely the unfulfilled free market promise of variety and multiple choice versus the reality of replicated, uniform dwelling units in repetitive residential buildings and identical neighborhoods characterizing residential landscapes worldwide. This article explores the corresponding relationship between design elements, design processes and entrepreneurial marketing decision-making. Our study reveals the cardinal role of architectural design in characterizing, financing, licensing and marketing LUDs, labeling them as unique—rather than uniform—developments compared with ‘regular’ neighborhoods.

Suggested Citation

  • Merryan Majerowitz & Yael Allweil, 2019. "Housing in the Neoliberal City: Large Urban Developments and the Role of Architecture," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 43-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v4:y:2019:i:4:p:43-61
    DOI: 10.17645/up.v4i4.2298
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2298
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/up.v4i4.2298?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v4:y:2019:i:4:p:43-61. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.