Laura Calbet i Elias

[1]

© CMS

Research Assistant, TU Berlin 

laura.calbet@metropolitanstudies.de [2]

Dissertation

The Speculative Production of the City: Financialization, Housing and Berlin’s Inner City Transformation

The dissertation project focusses on the transformed production of housing in relationship with the increasing significance of finance issues, both for developers and homeowners, but also for the conceptualization of housing as mean of reproduction. In recent years cities have experienced a profound transformation, which can be perceived at least in an altered development of housing space. The initial hypothesis of my research is that this urban transformation is evidence of new processes of production of space due to an increasing financialization. With the growing importance of finance-issues, the already significant role of urbanization as part of the process of accumulation becomes particularly relevant.

The departing point of my project is the question about the spatial consequences of changing conditions in the production of housing in context of financialization. The changing processes in the production of housing and the changing demands of the various stakeholders is examined with a focus on the construction of residential buildings - a typical field of welfare and planning policy. The research design consists of a theoretical discussion and the empirical verification of the argument. First, theories of urban development and rent are discussed together with current debates on financialization, with the aim to expound the characteristics of a financialised production of housing in today's transformation of cities. The empirical part of the thesis analyzes in detail how the changing conditions of financialization are achieved by the construction of residential buildings. The analysis looks at the investment-expectations of investors, political agendas, goals and regulations, as well as the patterns of materialization of urban development projects. The spatiality of financialization processes is analyzed on the example of concrete housing projects that have been built in the inner city of Berlin since 1990. Objectives, instruments, actors and concepts in a range of residential projects are compared with such of previous developments and contrasted with the characteristics of financialization.

Result of the research is an empirically grounded discussion about the "spatial fixity" of housing-financialization on the basis of newly constructed residential property in Berlin. The research enriches the discussion of urban restructuring from a neglected perspective and extends the geographical debate by a detailed spatial scale that makes it accessible for the planning discussion and practice.

CV

Since 05/2012
Assistant Professor & Researcher at the Chair for Urban Design & Urban Development (Professor Dr.‑Ing. Angela Million), Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin)

05/2012 - 05/2015
PhD-Fellow at the International Graduate Research Program Berlin - New York - Toronto, Center for Metropolitan Studies, Berlin, Germany. Funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

06/2014
Organization of the workshop „Financialization and the Production of Housing“ (June 20th-21th 2014) at Center for Metropolitan Studies, Berlin. Invited speakers: Manuel Aalbers (KU Leuven), Susanne Heeg (Goethe Universität Frankfurt), Andrej Holm (HU Berlin) and Ute Lehrer (York University Toronto).

09/2013-12/2013
Visiting Researcher at CITY Institute, York University, Toronto, Canada

Since 08/2012
Founding member and editor of suburban. zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung (OA scientific journal for critical urban studies; www.zeitschrift-suburban.de) 

Since 09/2009 (Sabbatical during DFG-Fellowship)
Assistant Professor & Researcher at the Chair for Urban Design & Urban Development (Professor Dr.-Ing. Angela Uttke; former Chair: Prof. Urs Kohlbrenner), Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin)

2009
Dipl.-Ing. in Urban and Regional Planning (equivalent of Master’s Degree) Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany Thesis: Stadtumbau und industrielles Erbe im 22@Barcelona am Beispiel Can Ricart. Wandel von Planungskonzepten als gesellschaftlicher Prozess

10/2005 – 10/2007
External cooperation partner at the research project »Stadtwohnen – Geschichte, Städtebau, Perspektiven« funded by the Wüstenrot Foundation, led by Prof. Dr. Tilman Harlander

10/2004 – 09/2006
Student assistant at the Chair of Sociology of Planning and Architecture (Prof. Dr. Harald Bodenschatz), Department of Sociology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin)

02/2002 – 01/2004
Student research assistant at the research project »Postmodern urban design since the 1980ies: Remaking the ‘European City’ in Berlin and London« led by Professor Dr. Harald Bodenschatz, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)

04/2000 – 04/2003
Student employee at the planning office TOPOS Stadtplanung‐Landschaftsplanung‐Stadtforschung, Berlin, Germany

09/1995 – 09/1999
Student employee at the architect’s office AM Arquitectes, Barcelona, Spain

Research Trips

Publications

Edited volumes

Calbet i Elias, Laura / Sebastian Däßler /Larissa Rensing: Rethink your University! Städtebauliche Entwürfe zum Campus Charlottenburg als Reflexion einer sich verändernden Hochschullandschaft. Berlin 2012

Flecken, Ursula / Calbet i Elias, Laura (Eds.): Der öffentliche Raum – Sichten, Reflexionen, Beispiele. Berlin 2011

Chapters in books / Articles in journals (Selection)

Calbet i Elias, Laura / Hutterer, Florian / Uttke; Angela: 150 Jahre Hobrechtplan. Die wiederkehrende Frage nach dem großen Plan. In: Jahrbuch Städtebau. Berlin 2013, p. 123-127

Calbet i Elias, Laura / Polinna, Cordelia / Schönig, Barbara: Standortfaktor Innenstadt – Ambivalenzen der Reurbanisierung in Barcelona, London und Chicago. In: K. Brake and G. Herfert (Eds.): Reurbanisierung. Materialität und Diskurs in Deutschland. Wiesbaden 2012, p. 367-407

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Mut und Unmut. Strategien für den Stadtumbau in Barcelona. In: Think Berl!n + (Eds.): Berlin hat mehr verdient! Ist Stadtentwicklung nach der Wahl egal?. Berlin 2011, p. 16‐17

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Öffentlicher Raum in Barcelona und Berlin – Beobachtungen zur lokalen Planungskultur. In: U. Flecken and L. Calbet i Elias (Eds.): Der öffentliche Raum – Sichten, Reflexionen, Beispiele. Berlin 2011, p. 107‐118

Rhede, Christiane / Hutterer, Florian / Herold, Stephanie / Calbet i Elias, Laura: Bebauungs‐ oder Freiflächenplan? Die Rolle des öffentlichen Raumes bei Hobrecht. In: U. Flecken und L. Calbet i Elias (Eds.): Der öffentliche Raum – Sichten, Reflexionen, Beispiele. Berlin 2011, p. 95‐106

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Aufwerten und abreißen. In: Deutsches Architektenblatt (Ausgabe Ost) 7/2008, p. 20‐24

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Review of U. Altrock, H. Hoffmann und B. Schönig (Eds.): Hoffnungsträger Zivilgesellschaft? Governance, Nonprofits und Stadtentwicklung in den Metropolregionen der USA. Berlin 2007. In: Die Alte Stadt 1/2008, p. 92‐93

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Barcelona – Schauplatz des postindustriellen Stadtumbaus. In: H. Bodenschatz and U. Laible (Eds.): Großstädte von morgen – Internationale Strategien des Stadtumbaus. Berlin 2007, p. 24‐43

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Barcelona, La Bonanova – Bürgerliches Wohnen hinter modernen Fassaden. In: T. Harlander (Ed.): Stadtwohnen – Geschichte, Städtebau, Perspektiven. München 2007, p. 258‐263

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Barcelona, Avenida Diagonal – Bausteine des Stadtumbaus. In: T. Harlander (Ed.): Stadtwohnen – Geschichte, Städtebau, Perspektiven. München 2007, p. 340‐345

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Avantgarde des Stadtumbaus? Neueste Projekte aus Barcelona. In: Die Alte Stadt 4/2006, p. 364‐379

Calbet i Elias, Laura: Reinszenierung des symbolischen Mittelpunktes von London: Quartier Paternoster Square. In: H. Bodenschatz (Ed.): Renaissance der Mitte – Zentrumsumbau in London und Berlin. Berlin 2005, p. 71‐86

Conferences / Workshop Contributions

Financialized Housing Production in Berlin. Some Reflections on Neil Smith’s “Generalized Gentrification”. Presentation at the international conference “Global Capitalism and Processes of Urban Regeneration. A Tribute to Neil Smith”. September 14^th-16^th 2015 Barcelona, Spain.

Financializing Housing Development in Post-Welfare Berlin. Presentation at the seminar “The Real Estate / Financial Complex”. June 8^th 2015 Leuven, Belgium. Arbeitsfeld Wissenschaft. Guest Lecture at Bauhaus-University Weimar, May 26^th  2015 in Weimar.

Ordinary Projects: Condominium Development in Post-Welfare Berlin. Presentation at the panel „The Impact of Condominium Development on Urban Life“ in the Annual Meeting 2015 der Association of American Geographers. April 23^rd 2015 in Chicago, USA.

Financializing Housing Development in Post-Welfare Berlin.Presentation at the Workshop “Financialisation of financial and real estate markets”, March 21^st-20^th 2015 in Frankfurt/M.

Making sense of housing crises: The rhetoric of austerity and growth in financialized Berlin. Lecture at the 10^th Hermann-Henselmann-Kolloquium „Urban Austerity: Impacts of the global financial crisis on cities in Europe“, December 4^th-5^th 2014 in Weimar.

Organization of the session „Time, Land and Rent“ at the conference „Urban Temporalities - Annual Conference IGK 2014”, November 20^th-22^nd 2014 in Berlin. Finanzialisierung des Wohnungsmarkts. Guest Lecture at Bauhaus-University Weimar, November 17^th  2014 in Weimar.

Financialization and the Production of Housing. Introductory lecture to the workshop with the same name at the Center for Metropolitan Studies, June 20th 2014 in Berlin.
The Speculative Transformation of the City: Reflections on a financialized urbanization. Guest Lecture at the CITY Institute at York University, Toronto, November 11^th 2013 in Toronto, Canada

Suburban Transformations: Some Reflections on a financialized urbanization. At the session "Housing and Mobility Shifts” at the Conference “A Suburban Revolution? An international conference on bringing the fringe to the centre of global urban research and practice" at CITY Institute at York University, Toronto, September 28th 2013 in Toronto, Canada

Financialization of Housing: Some Reflections on N. Smith’s ‘Generalized Gentrification’. At the session “Capital, Value and the Built Environment” at the IGK-Conference 2013 “Empire, City, Nature”. Mai 31st 2013 in Toronto, Canada

From affordable to upscale: Redifining Housing Policies in Berlin. At the panel „Governmentality of the Built Environment: Creativity, Culture and Design“ in the Annual Meeting 2013 der Association of American Geographers. April 13^rd 2013 in Los Angeles, USA

Barcelona. Consensus, Complexity and the European City. At the lecture serie „European Urbanism – European City“ am Institut für europäische Urbanistik (IfeU) der Bauhaus Universität Weimar. January 22^nd 2013 in Weimar, Germany

Feindbild der Moderne, heutiges Vorbild? Lehren aus der Wohn- und Stadtvorstellungen bei Hobrecht und deren Kritik. At the 8^th Hermann-Henselmann-Kolloquium mit dem Titel „150 Jahre Hobrecht-Plan für Berlin. Die Stadtplanung, die Wohnungsfrage und der Staat.“ October 27^th 2012 in Berlin

Political Public Space. Reflecting Barcelona's ‘Espanya Industrial’ referring to the political theories of Hannah Arendt and Ernesto Laclau. Together with Dr. N. Roskamm in the session "Contemporary Challenges and the Meaning of Public Spaces" (AESOP Thematic Group "Urban Culture and Public Spaces") at the Annual Meeting of the Association of European Schools of Planning – AESOP, July 14^th 2012 in Ankara, Turkey

SozialesWohnenBauen für NordNeukölln. Learning Dialog (together with U-Lab) at the "Haus der Stadt im Amerika-Haus". Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2012, June 2^nd 2012 in Berlin

Speculation and Urban Transformation. In the session "The Normalcy of Urban Neoliberalism and its Limits II: Praxes of Normalization" (Prof. Dr. S. Heeg), at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers 2012, February 28^th 2012 in New York, USA

Public space and the concept of democracy. Barcelona 1970‐2011. In the conference "Conviviality in Public Places, Planning for Security and Multiculturalism" of the AESOP Thematic Group "Urban Culture and Public Spaces", November 11^th 2011 in Neapel, Italien

Spekulation in Wohnimmobilien und städtischer Wandel. In the conference "Macht & Konflikt um die/in der Stadt" of the young researcher network Stadt Raum Architektur, October 15^th 2011 in Berlin

Komplexität als Standortfaktor. In the symposium Standort‐Dialog "Bremen: Neue Weichenstellung für die City", invited from Heuer Dialog, August 31^th 2011 in Bremen

Mut und Unmut. Strategien für den Stadtumbau in Barcelona. At the symposium "Berlin hat mehr verdient! Ist Stadtentwicklung nach der Wahl egal? " organized by Think Berl!n +, May 6^th 2011 in Berlin

Hobrecht reloaded. 150 Jahre Stadterweiterung. Lecture at the Haus der Stadt, Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften, June 5^th 2010 in Berlin

Immobilienpreise und sozialräumliche Spaltung – Die Metropolregion Barcelona. 2^nd Studentsconference in Bremen "Fragmentierte Stadtlandschaften ‐ Alte Insider, neue Outsider? ", May 24^th 2008 in Bremen

Avantgarde des Stadtumbaus? Neueste Projekte aus Barcelona. In the lecture serie "Stadtumbau Anderswo II" from Schinkel‐Zentrums für Architektur, Städtebau und Denkmalpflege, December 4^th  2006 in Berlin

Poster

Immobilienmärkte in Wandel und Segregation in Metropolregionen. Invited and presented at the symposium "Simmel und die Stadt" of the Georg‐Simmel‐Zentrums für Metropolenforschung, November 27 ^th and 28 ^th 2008 in Berlin

Memberships

Editorial Board of  s u b u r b a n. zeitschrift für kritische stadtforschung

Vereinigung für Stadt-, Regional- und Landesplanung (SRL): Thematic Group "Housing Policy"

Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Thematic Group "Public Spaces and Urban Cultures"

Association of American Geographers

Forum Stadtforschung (Founder member)

Teaching

Spring Semester 2015
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Living+. Affordable Housing in Bremen (Master Project)
Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin): Colloquium “Wohnen in Berlin” (BA-, MA and PhD-Students)

Fall Semester 2015
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Introductory Urban Design Studio (Bachelor Courses)
Consensus/Dissent: New Housing in the Neighborhood (Master Project)
Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin): Colloquium “Wohnen in Berlin” (BA-, MA and PhD-Students)

Spring Semester 2010, 2011 and 2012
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Introductory Urban Design Studio (Bachelor Courses)

Fall Semester 2011
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Building Affordable Housing in the Inner City of Berlin (Master Project)

Fall Semester 2010
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Rethink your University! Concepts for the urban regeneration of the TU Berlin University Campus (Master Project)

Fall Semester 2009
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
TXL-Award. Concepts for the regeneration of the Tegel airport (Master Project)
Department of Sociology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin):
Single Lectures "Barcelona Waterfront. Modell and Conflict" and "Urban Regeneration in Barcelona"

Awards / Grants

05/2012
Doctorate DFG-Fellow (German Research Foundation) at the International Graduate Research Program, Center for Metropolitan Studies

02/2012
DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) travel grant to New York, USA. Lecture on the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers 2012

Schinkel Competition 2011
Association of Architects and Engineers. Acknowledgment in the category Urban Design. Leading of the student‘s application "Akupunktur. Berlin University of Technology & Arts"

09/2011
Wüstenrot Foundation. Grant for the summer academy ZukunftsWerkstattWohnbauen 2010 "Innerstädtische Verdichtung – Wohnen in Bremen"

TXL‐Award 2009
Agenda4 and Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben. 1st Price. Leading of the student‘s application "GRUEN⁴"

TXL‐Award 2009
Agenda4 and Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben. 3th Price. Leading of the student‘s application "ProTech"

2005
International award „The Efficiency of Knowledge Based Society on Spatial Development“ SPECTRA (Bratislava) and ARL (Hannover) 4th Price for the summit „Wissensatlas Berlin” (with Alexander Okon and Andreas Walter)