Racialized housing unevenness in Cluj-Napoca under capitalist redevelopment

Abstract

The Western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca is among the few Central and East European non-capital cities in economic recovery following the dismantlement of actually existing socialism. Privatization-led housing politics and capital accumulation-driven real estate development, together with racialization and urban branding, (re)produce uneven development and housing unevenness in the neoliberal city. As the class focused political economy framework is insufficient to comprehend such a complex phenomenon, we explored it at the intersection of class, spatialization and racialization. Employing a whole range of data extracted from interviews, statistics and official documents, the article examines the conditions of possibility for the formation of the two extreme housing arrangements at local level: Cantonului colony, close to the Pata Rât landfill; and the luxurious real estate Maurer Panoramic placed at the heart of the city. Together, they illustrate racialized housing unevenness. Our contribution to urban studies consists in arguing for the central role of housing in the production of spatialized and racialized divisions in the capitalist cities.