Uneven Geographies of Capitalism

In her article Extracting Value from the City: Neoliberalism and Urban Redevelopment, Rachel Weber describes how markets and politics inform spatial practice. She argues that spatial policies are reliant on discursive practices that shape opinion about areas slated for redevelopment. The built environment is stigmatized through discursive frames. The power of language shapes our perceptions of space and determines what society’s values and devalues in the built environment. For example the use of the term “blight” to describe spatial areas facing decline is a loaded term implying this is a “sick” place that must be “cured.” This type of intentional narrative framing informs the uneven distribution of capital in cities. Weber writes, “Whereas the Keynesian state framed slum clearance as a government responsibility to aid victim-residents, entrepreneurial urban policies use discursive frames that assign neither blame nor responsibility”(532=533).  The flow of capital is not just determined by markets or politics but by intentional discursive framing.

Municipalities today face even more challenges for development and redevelopment. In order to compete in a global arena while facing fiscal stress and budget constraints, local governments must find new ways to capture capital in the built environment.