Urbanisation and Financialisation in the Context of a Rescaling State: The Case of Spain

Abstract

AbstractThe secondary circuit is a central element in the processes of capital accumulation, and its relevance has become more acute in recent years as urban planning, housing, and real estate have become privileged arenas of the territoriality “variegated” processes of neoliberalisation. This paper explores three theoretical concepts, all closely associated with neoliberalisation: the rescaling of the state, urban entrepreneurialism and financialisation. The paper uses these three theoretical concepts to explain, on the one hand, the increasing relevance of housing and real estate and, on the other hand, their connection with two of the major manifestations of the current financial crisis: excessive private indebtedness and the credit crunch. Analysing the Spanish case is particularly revealing because of the intensity of construction work until 2007, the severity of the subsequent economic crisis, and the wide range of agents involved in the growth of a neoliberalised and financialised secondary circuit of capital in Spain.