Subprime Cities

Acknowledgements

Part I: Introduction

Part II: The Political Economy of the Mortgage Market

Part III: Cities, Race and the Subprime Crisis

Part IV: Conclusion

Glossary

Index

"Aalbers has edited a commendable volume that makes a strong
case for the centrality of urban processes in crisis formation. It
has implications for a number of subfields in political
science--including urban politics, economic and housing policy
processes, race and ethnicity, politics and history, and federalism
and intergovernmental relations--and should be read by
scholars seeking to pinpoint the urban origins of the global
financial crisis, as well as by those with an interest in learning
more about the unavoidable and deepening connection between the
fate of cities and the fate of nations." (Perspectives on
Politics, 1 September 2013)

"So its reading will benefit not only economic
geographers, but also sociologists, political scientists and, dare
we say, economists." (Political Studies Review,
8 January 2014)

"Aalbers has edited a commendable volume that makes a strong case
for the centrality of urban processes in crisis formation. It has
implications for a number of subfields in political
science--including urban politics, economic and housing policy
processes, race and ethnicity, politics and history, and federalism
and intergovernmental relations--and should be read by
scholars seeking to pinpoint the urban origins of the global
financial crisis, as well as by those with an interest in learning
more about the unavoidable and deepening connection between the
fate of cities and the fate of nations." (Perspectives on
Politics, September 2013)

"The book will be extremely useful for advanced courses in
economic geography, housing policy and related topics. It should be
widely cited in the ongoing debates over the subprime crisis as
well as in discussions of mortgage and housing markets more
generally." (International Journal of Housing
Policy, 20 June 2013)

"Overall, the book is a must-have for not only those
interested in the economics, geography, and politics of the
subprime crisis or mortgage markets, but also those more broadly
interested in economic geography more broadly, especially as it
concerns finance. The book will be extremely useful for advanced
courses in economic geography, housing policy, and related topics.
It should be widely cited in the ongoing debate over the subprime
crisis as well as in discussions of mortgage and housing markets
more generally." (International Journal of Housing
Policy, 2012)



There has, prior to the publication of this book on Subprime
Cities, been very little concern for examining and interpreting
this sequence of events and explaining the role of urbanization and
financialization (along with rent-seeking) in this whole dynamic.
What this book does is to begin upon the complex task of exploring
and explaining the urban roots of crisis formation in general and
of the dynamics of the most recent crisis in particular. We have
here an astonishing and revelatory understanding of the urban roots
of the fiscal crisis.

--David Harvey, Graduate Center, City University New
York

Subprime Cities reveals how the fate of metropolitan
areas has long been and continues to be intricately intertwined
with the opaque dealings of financial institutions. More
importantly, this book exposes deep, fundamental structural
barriers that persist and must be challenged before we can bring
some rationality to financial service industries in a manner that
will lead to more balanced and equitable development of those
communities.

-- Gregory D. Squires, George Washington University

Manuel B. Aalbers is Associate Professor in the
Department of Geography at the University of Leuven,
Belgium. He is the author of Place, Exclusion and Mortgage
Markets (2011) and associate editor of the Encyclopedia of
Urban Studies (2010).

M. B. Aalbers, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands