Thinking Outside the Bubble: The Urban Crises of Land, Labor, and Capital

Many analyses of urban phenomena in developing countries occur in an intellectual and urban policy bubble which ignores the impacts of global economic phenomena. “Urban conventional wisdom” ignores the role of global capital flows in urban capital formation in housing and infrastructure. This narrative neglects the central role of urban employment in the generation of urban incomes and livelihoods. Urban policy debate has thus ignored three fundamental crises affecting cities: land, labor, and capital. While some institutions and analysts have studied these issues, their messages have not been heard by influential actors in the wider urban debates. Empirical cases from urban China and urban Africa illustrate these crises.