Abstract
The financialization of urban development occurs even under conditions of credit constraint. The paper demonstrates that credit scarcity is an important and under-examined driver of policy improvisation and institutional development. Using the case of Tucson, Arizona, we show that local and extra-local interests overlap and cross-pollinate to produce unique hybrids – geographically specific and contingent institutional forms cultivated by local growth machines to attract outside financial interests. These dynamics are illustrated with a sales-tax-based tax increment financing district that employs “enhanced financings” to attract extra-local sources of debt and equity. We find that the financialization of urban development in the credit-constrained city is not just a process of abstraction, but also of particularization in which extra-local dollars flow through embedded local networks. We conclude with a call for greater attention to the intersections of finance and urban life in “ordinary cities”.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1335-1355 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Urban Geography |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 21 2019 |
Keywords
- Financialization
- credit-constraint
- tax increment financing (TIF)
- urban development
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Urban Studies