Speculative Urbanism: Land, Livelihoods, and Finance Capital

本项目调查了一个与美国和世界各国相当相关的备受瞩目的政策问题：在快速发展的大都市中正在进行的重大土地转型是否有助于减少城市贫困和提高城市可持续性？这种所谓的“全球城市”城市发展模式旨在提高第三世界快速增长和人口密集城市的经济竞争力，减少贫困，力求将特大城市（人口在1000万至2000万以上的城市）转变为拥有配套基础设施和便利设施的“世界级”城市。本项目以班加罗尔和雅加达为案例研究，考察了各国政府、全球政策制定者、国际银行、当地金融和政治企业家、土地开发商和普通居民如何塑造这一雄心的核心商业房地产和基础设施项目。项目成果包括对“全球城市”模式的系统评估，这是一个对美国至关重要的全球安全问题，因为第三世界大城市的贫困和失业加剧了南北移民，并在经济和地缘政治意义日益重要的地区引发了内乱的前景。该项目的合作和比较研究设计将产生互利的知识和教育交流，并巩固美国、印度和印度尼西亚高等教育机构之间持久的智力关系。该项目还加强了学生的培训和专业知识，并将研究成果纳入参与机构的大学课程。调查人员将通过出版物和为决策者和政府官员举办的讲习班以及在城市规划者、民间社会团体和城市居民的公共论坛上广泛传播这项研究的结果。“全球城市”方法的关键是利用创新的行政和财政安排，将所谓“未充分利用”的土地转变为可产生商业效益的土地，将外国投资者和机构与当地对应机构联系起来。尽管政策共识认为，“全球城市”模板反映了目前将特大城市转变为经济增长引擎、减轻城市贫困和实现城市可持续性的最佳做法，但青年失业、失业增长、普遍贫困和环境危害（如空气和水污染、蚊子传播的疾病）的持续存在，这些城市的污水和卫生条件差，增加了这种普遍的城市转型模式没有像设想的那样发挥作用的可能性。为了研究是否会出现这种情况以及为什么会出现这种情况，该项目调查了三个相互关联的过程：1)土地被收购、整合和转化为大型房地产和基础设施项目的市场商品的网络和机制，询问谁能够参与土地市场，谁不能；2)政策和金融网络如何影响“全球城市”模式的实施；3)这种城市转型模式最终是否弊大于利，削弱了城市生计和就业的可能性。调查人员采用定性和定量研究方法，包括人口普查和遥感数据的政策评估和分析，以及对两个亚洲大城市的城市居民和关键行为者的访谈，以实现这一三方学术目标。

This project investigates a high-profile policy issue of considerable relevance to the US and countries worldwide: Are the major land transformations underway in rapidly growing metropolises helping to reduce urban poverty and increase urban sustainability? Aimed at enhancing economic competitiveness and reducing poverty in rapidly growing and densely populated cities of the Third World, this so-called "global cities" model of urban development strives to transform mega-cities (cities with populations of 10 to 20+ million) into "world-class" cities with matching infrastructure and amenities. Using Bangalore and Jakarta as case studies, this project examines how governments, global policymakers, international banks, local financial and political entrepreneurs, land developers, and ordinary residents shape commercial real estate and infrastructure projects at the core of this ambition. Project outcomes include a systematic assessment of the "global city" model, an issue of vital importance to the United States as a matter of global security, since poverty and unemployment in Third World mega-cities reinforces south-north migration and raises the prospect of civil unrest in regions of growing economic and geopolitical significance. The project's collaborative and comparative research design will generate mutually beneficial knowledge and educational exchange, and cement lasting intellectual relationships among US, Indian, and Indonesian higher education institutions. The project also enhances student training and expertise and integrates research results into university courses at the participating institutions. Investigators will broadly disseminate the results of this research in publications and through workshops for policy makers and government officials, and at public forums for urban planners, civil society groups and city residents.Key to the "global city" approach is the conversion of purportedly "under-utilized" land into commercially generative tracts using innovative administrative and financial arrangements that connect foreign investors and institutions with local counterparts. In spite of a policy consensus that the "global city" template reflects current best practice for transforming mega-cities into economic growth engines, mitigating urban poverty, and achieving urban sustainability, the persistence of youth unemployment, jobless growth, widespread impoverishment, and environmental hazards (such as air and water pollution, mosquito-borne ailments, poor sewage and sanitation) in such cities raises the possibility that this prevalent model of urban transformation is not working as envisioned. In order to study whether and why this might be the case, the project investigates three interlinked processes: 1) the networks and mechanisms through which land is acquired, consolidated, and transformed into a market commodity for large-scale real estate and infrastructure projects, asking who is able to participate in the land market and who is not; 2) how policy and financial networks influence the implementation of the "global city" approach; and 3) whether this model of urban transformation ultimately disadvantages more people than it advantages, undermining urban livelihood and employment possibilities. The investigators employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including policy evaluation and analysis of census and remote sensing data, as well as interviews with urban residents and key actors in two Asian mega-cities, to meet this tripartite scholarly objective.