Obsolescence and the Process of Creative Reconstruction

What is built and where it is built is largely determined by the activities and perceptions of global investment capital. Comparatively limited work has been undertaken into the property markets of regional cities as well as into the process of building obsolescence, refurbishment and valorisation. This paper explores the dynamics of the property development process in relation to land rent theory in marginal development locations. It argues that the debate over land rent theory, between academics who want to retain the canonical dogma and those who focus on landownership, is misplaced. What is required is a combination of these approaches. Increasingly, what is built and where it is built reflects the varied nature of property interests, as well as the actions of the local and national state. The argument is supported by a case study of Nottingham's office market.

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