Publication

This paper explains how many analyses of urban phenomena in developing countries occur in an intellectual and urban policy bubble which ignores the impacts of global economic phenomena. The author details how such "urban conventional wisdom" ignores the role of global capital flows in urban capital formation in housing and infrastructure. He explains that while some institutions and analysts have studied these issues, their messages have not been heard by influential actors in the wider urban debate. The paper uses empirical cases from China and Africa to illustrate its argument.