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The Sustainability of a Financialized Urban Megaproject: The Case of Sihlcity in Zurich

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  • Thierry Theurillat
  • Olivier Crevoisier

Abstract

Financialization and sustainable urban planning are now two major components of urban production and landscape change in Western cities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the intervention of financial actors influences urban sustainability in the building of megaprojects, by developing a conceptual framework for analysis and interpretation. This framework aims first to examine the way in which sustainability has been produced by the different actors involved in a real-life situation, and then to place these interactions in their institutional, spatial and temporal context. Consequently, sustainability is understood as a social construct which is the object of negotiations that have led to the making of institutional arrangements in order to allow the project to be carried through. This framework has been constructed from the financial geography and urban geography literature on ‘finance, the city and sustainability’ and from a case study. The latter looks at the regeneration of a brownfield site to create a shopping and leisure complex that was the biggest in Switzerland and was purchased by financial actors.
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  • Thierry Theurillat & Olivier Crevoisier, 2013. "The Sustainability of a Financialized Urban Megaproject: The Case of Sihlcity in Zurich," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 2052-2073, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:37:y:2013:i:6:p:2052-2073
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ijur.2013.37.issue-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Thierry Theurillat & Patrick Rérat & Olivier Crevoisier, 2015. "The real estate markets: Players, institutions and territories," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(8), pages 1414-1433, June.
    2. Natacha Aveline-Dubach, 2020. "The financialization of real estate in megacities and its variegated trajectories in East Asia [La financiarisation de l'immobilier dans les mégapoles d'Asie orientale et leurs trajectoires différe," Post-Print halshs-02517518, HAL.
    3. Fenghua Pan & Fengmei Zhang & Shengjun Zhu & Dariusz Wójcik, 2017. "Developing by borrowing? Inter-jurisdictional competition, land finance and local debt accumulation in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(4), pages 897-916, March.
    4. Natacha Aveline-Dubach, 2017. "Embedment of “Liquid” Capital into the Built Environment:," Post-Print halshs-01563507, HAL.
    5. Hortense Rouanet & Ludovic Halbert, 2016. "Leveraging finance capital: Urban change and self-empowerment of real estate developers in India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(7), pages 1401-1423, May.
    6. Eeva-Sofia Säynäjoki & Jukka Heinonen & Seppo Junnila, 2014. "The Power of Urban Planning on Environmental Sustainability: A Focus Group Study in Finland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Matthias Bernt & Laura Colini & Daniel Förste, 2017. "Privatization, Financialization and State Restructuring in Eastern Germany: The case of Am südpark," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 555-571, July.
    8. Kevin Fox Gotham, 2016. "Re-anchoring capital in disaster-devastated spaces: Financialisation and the Gulf Opportunity (GO) Zone programme," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(7), pages 1362-1383, May.
    9. Shatkin, Gavin, 2022. "Financial sector actors, the state, and the rescaling of Jakarta’s extended urban region," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    10. Thierry Theurillat & Nelson Vera-Büchel & Olivier Crevoisier, 2016. "Commentary: From capital landing to urban anchoring: The negotiated city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(7), pages 1509-1518, May.
    11. Sara Brorström & Alexander Styhre, 2021. "Plans and situated actions in urban renewal projects: The role of governance devices in realizing projects," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(3), pages 646-663, May.
    12. Ludovic Halbert & Katia Attuyer, 2016. "Introduction: The financialisation of urban production: Conditions, mediations and transformations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(7), pages 1347-1361, May.
    13. Gerber, Jean-David & Debrunner, Gabriela, 2022. "Planning with power. Implementing urban densification policies in Zurich, Switzerland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    14. Natacha Aveline-Dubach, 2020. "China’s Housing Booms: A Challenge to Bubble Theory [Les booms immobiliers en Chine, un défi à la théorie de la bulle]," Post-Print halshs-02963810, HAL.
    15. Theodore Metaxas & Laura Juarez & Gaby Gavriilidis, 2021. "Planning and Marketing the City for Sustainability: The Madrid Nuevo Norte Project," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.
    16. Luan, Xiaofan & Li, Zhigang, 2022. "Financialization in the making of the new Wuhan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R51 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies

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