The geopolitics of real estate: assembling soft power via property markets

Büdenbender, Mirjam and Golubchikov, Oleg ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7355-0447 2017. The geopolitics of real estate: assembling soft power via property markets. International Journal of Housing Policy 17 (1) , pp. 75-96. 10.1080/14616718.2016.1248646

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Abstract

The article problematizes the role of real estate in geopolitical circulations. The internationalization of real estate increases mutual dependencies and vulnerabilities between nation states and therefore calls for a better appreciation of the geopolitical externalities and exteriorities of real estate. The article brings together disjoint bodies of literature on real estate globalization, assemblage theory, and international relations to show how real estate is a case of the geopolitics of the multiple – geopolitics that is being assembled by diverse and distributed actors, discourses, and materialities representing the contingent and emergent formation of connections and considerations, which affect the ways how foreign relations are negotiated today. The argument is substantiated by considering several dimensions of the real estate/geopolitics nexus: (i) external influences over domestic real estate markets; (ii) the implications of outward real estate investment; (iii) state-led mega-projects conveying externally the power of the state. These dimensions are considered empirically in the context of the renewed geopolitical tensions between a resurgent Russia and the West. Overall, the article calls for a better positioning of real estate in the conceptualizations of soft power, state power, and geopolitics.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	real estate internationalisation, geopolitics of the multiple, assemblage, soft power, soft geopolitics, Russia
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	1949-1247
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 October 2016
Date of Acceptance:	12 October 2016
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2023 18:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/95325

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