Housing (De-)Financialization in Leipzig (Germany): Particularities – Knowledge Transfer – Engagement. Perspectives from a participatory research project.

Keywords: (de)financialization, housing, Germany, Leipzig, institutional investment, Who Owns the City?, critical geography, participatory research
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 50

Abstract

Amidst soaring rents, rising house prices, and increasing institutional investment in German first-tier and second-tier cities, struggles for affordable housing have returned on the political agenda. In this context, activists, organized tenants and social movements are key figures in shifting the political landscape, as the Berlin referendum to socialize financialized landlords has shown.

Following these observations, this paper addresses how combining critical research with resident engagement can facilitate a progressive agenda towards housing definancialization.

To this end, I want to provide insights into a collaborative research project in Leipzig (Germany) which deals with the socio-spatial consequences of housing financialization for tenants. While large-scale institutional and economic processes of financialization have been widely researched for the German context, little is known on how households and tenants deal with and respond to these processes. Focusing on the neighborhood Connewitz and following a participative approach, we have collected intra-urban property data, developed an interactive online mapping tool, conducted 50+ narrative interviews, carried collective mapping workshops, and engaged in public relations. By engaging both activists and tenants throughout the whole research process, we strive to make finance knowable, thus contestable. Looking back at months of field work and thorough analysis, I want to (i) develop new concepts on the particularities of housing financialization in Leipzig with an emphasis on property structures and landlord-tenant relationships, (ii) discuss the merits and limits of our research with regards to knowledge transfer, resident engagement, and progressive outcomes, and (iii) sketch out a framework for critical participatory financialization research.