Broken City

Why is housing so expensive? Patrick Condon contends that it is because, worldwide, the link between local wages and shelter pricing is broken. Many immigrants, racialized minorities, young people, and service workers are barred from joining the middle classes as they cannot build wealth through home ownership. Wages for workers, adjusted for inflation, stay flat, while housing costs multiply – a trend seen across the English-speaking world. Even when entrepreneurs open cute cafés and attractive shops, they are rewarded with rent increases that force them out of the district. Who benefits? The 1% who today own 20% of national income, versus 10% in the 1980s.

What can be done? Condon offers several examples of how cities have reclaimed land wealth from speculators and individuals for the common good and proposes a range of solutions, from ambitious ones like increasing land value taxes to quicker fixes like incentivizing construction of affordable homes, all inspired by real-world examples. Condon envisions a future where such efforts are prioritized, and land value, no longer driven by speculative investment, supports housing for the people who need it.

This is required reading for anyone puzzled by or experiencing the housing crisis, as well as scholars and students of urban planning, urban studies, geography, and political economy – particularly those interested in housing and land-use policy.

Broken City: Land Speculation, Inequality, and Urban Crisis
by Partick M. Condon
UBC Press

Publish Date: May 2024

ISBN: 9780774869553