TRACK 15: PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS

Actors and property markets in shaping cities; Financialization; Top-down/Bottom-up actions

Chairs:

• Elvan Guloksuz, Istanbul Technical University (ITU)
• Francesca Leccis, University of Cagliari
• Tuna Tasan-Kok, University of Amsterdam

In an era marked by planetary crises, from climate change and biodiversity loss to air pollution and urban inequalities, understanding the actors and dynamics of land and property markets in shaping cities has become more important than ever. These markets interact with adaptive planning and regulation mechanisms, influencing the trajectory of urban development. While housing has often been the focus of planning interventions, there is an urgent need to broaden our understanding of how land and property market dynamics drive urban transformations. Planning systems worldwide grapple with the challenge of regulating these markets, which are increasingly dominated by powerful financial actors whose strategies transcend local boundaries and contribute to deepening social and environmental inequities. They are also required to address actions of government actors who enter these markets in novel ways as landowners or developers by engaging state-owned property.

The financialization of cities, wherein real estate becomes a favored asset class for global investment vehicles such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and private equity firms, presents profound challenges to urban governance. These actors are reshaping land markets, intensifying property speculation, and amplifying the volatility of real estate values, which, in turn, affect long-term planning efforts. Regulation in this context is complex, as cities attempt to balance attracting capital to fuel growth while mitigating the displacement and social fragmentation that financialized property markets often exacerbate.

A comprehensive understanding of property market dynamics is indispensable if planners are to act as agents of transformative change. Without this understanding, planning interventions risk reinforcing the status quo or, worse, becoming complicit in the very market forces that drive urban crises. To advance transformative action, particularly in response to the planetary crisis, planning must critically engage with the mechanisms of land and property regulation and explore innovative approaches that foster both sustainability and equity. Moreover, urban planning regulations must be better understood in relation to broader urban governance and regulatory frameworks that shape cities.

This track seeks to explore the critical intersections between planning, governance, and property studies, emphasizing the role of land and property markets in shaping cities. We welcome contributions that explore how different groups interact with market actors and negotiate with them to reshape cities. Furthermore, the track will specifically focus on how planning systems, regulatory frameworks, and policy mechanisms offer toolsets to harness social value from these market interventions to foster the co-creation of liveable, inclusive and adaptive urban environments for transformative outcomes. Key themes include:

• Public Planning Mechanisms and Financialization: Papers should investigate how public planning mechanisms respond to the financialization of property markets, focusing on the role of land regulation, market volatility, and speculative practices. How do these regulatory frameworks adapt, and what are their limitations in steering urban growth towards sustainability?
• Emerging Adaptive Planning Strategies: This theme explores innovative and adaptive planning strategies in the context of land and property markets. Contributions should illuminate novel approaches that planners employ to balance market pressures with environmental and social goals, such as land value capture mechanisms, green urbanism, and collaborative land governance models.
• Relational Dynamics among Public, Private, and Financial Actors: We invite submissions that analyze the power dynamics and collaborations between public institutions, private developers, and financial actors in shaping land markets. How do these relationships influence the spatial, social, and environmental outcomes of urban developments? How do planning regulations influence these relations?
• Government Agencies as New Property Market Actors: Papers analyzing the participation of local and central government agencies in property markets as landowners and/or developers through government-owned property are welcome. This theme addresses the consequences of these new forms of government participation on planning practice, government structure and urban development.
• Market Intelligence and Digital Technologies: This theme invites papers that explore the rapidly evolving landscape of market intelligence and the transformative role of digital technologies in shaping property markets and the urban built environment. The rise of digital governance tools, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining how property market actors—both public and private—interact with urban planning processes. These technologies enable the collection and analysis of vast amounts of real-time data, which in turn informs decisions about land use, investment, and regulation. The integration of digital tools in property markets is reshaping how cities are planned, developed, and governed, offering both opportunities and challenges for equitable and sustainable urban outcomes.
• Bridging Markets and Community: Innovative Approaches to Urban Development: This theme explores the emergence of entrepreneurial community initiatives within market-driven urban development. Papers should examine how local communities, cooperatives, NGOs, and grassroots movements strategically position themselves within market-led systems, aiming to promote inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban growth by utilizing market tools and strategies. The focus is on how these initiatives engage with market forces, employing toolsets and approaches that mirror those of market actors—such as community-based planning models or cooperative housing—as responses to speculative practices. We encourage submissions that analyze the regulatory tools and strategies that emerge from these interactions, highlighting the market-led behavior, tools and strategies of these initiatives. How do entrepreneurial community initiatives leverage market mechanisms to advance social and environmental sustainability, and what opportunities and challenges do they face as they interface with formal planning bodies?
• Property Market Policy as Part of Government Strategies to Overcome Multi-Faceted Crisis: This theme elaborates government policies of land and property as part of their strategies to overcome economic, ecological and fiscal crises. Contributions are welcome that relate property market policies to policies of environment, growth, fiscal balance, welfare and wealth and income equality with an eye to the property market actors and social groups involved.

By situating land and property market dynamics at the heart of transformative urban planning, this track invites scholars to critically examine how planning can evolve to meet the challenges of financialization and contribute to equitable, resilient, and sustainable cities in the face of a planetary crisis.