Urban Land Rent

Series Editors' Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of Figures xiii
List of Tables xv
List of Abbreviations xvii
Glossary xix
Preface xxi
1 Introduction: Singapore as a Case and Comparison 1
European Classics and Western Theories 6
Asian Studies: A Focus on Villages 8
Urban Studies 10
The Developmental State, Asian Values and Rent-seeking 12
Singapore as a Property State 15
The Chapters 21
Notes 24
2 Ideologies of Land 26
Land Regimes 27
Debates on Genealogies 33
Philosophies of Property 36
Myths of Frontier and Homeownership 38
The Economic, Moral and Political Land Question 43
Notes 45
3 Economic Arguments: Rent Theory and Property Rights Theory 46
Concepts and Forms of Rent 46
Rent and Social Problems 48
Extending the Rent Concept 51
Property Rights Theory 53
Ambiguous Property Rights and the Market for Development Rights 56
Rent as a Social Relation 57
Urban Land Rent 59
Notes 61
4 Land Reforms: Practical Solutions and Politics of Land 63
Radicals and Moralists 64
Two Chinese Models of Land Reform 69
Modern Land Reform 72
Land Value Tax 78
Neoliberal Land Reforms 80
From Revolutions to Pragmatism 82
Notes 85
5 Land Institutions and Housing 86
Land Institutions and the Second Round of Land Acquisitions 87
National and Urban Development 94
Housing the Nation 98
Housing Welfare 105
Private, Expatriate and Migrant Housing 107
Challenges 109
The Value of Public Land and Fiscalisation of Rent 113
Notes 119
6 Property Tycoons and Speculation 120
Rent-seeking 121
Property is a Hot Topic in Singapore 123
Rumours in Hong Kong 127
Conglomerates, Dynasties and Pension Funds 130
Private and Government-linked Companies in Singapore 134
Industrial Landscape and the Jurong Town Corporation 137
Private and Government Companies Sharing the Market 139
Transnational Property Companies 146
Capricious Landlords and Mean Developers: Absolute Rent 148
Land Without Speculation 152
Notes 156
7 Diversification of a Real Estate Portfolio: The World is Singapore's Hinterland 158
Safe Haven for Global Real Estate Flows 160
Real Estate Investment Trusts 164
Singapore Colonising the World: Sovereign Wealth Funds 167
Real Estate Investment into Singapore 170
Property-minded People 172
Casinos and Singapore as the World's Wealth Management Centre 176
Global Rent and Racism in the Real Estate Market 178
Notes 182
8 Financial Crises and Real Estate 183
Financial Centres 186
Singapore and Hong Kong as Financial Centres 187
Nick Leeson and the Collapse of Barings 192
The IMF in Singapore 195
The Asian Crisis 197
Bangkok and Real Estate Speculation 200
Singapore and the Financial Crisis 204
The Financialisation of Land and Derivative Rent 209
Notes 213
9 Conclusion: The Land, Urban and Rent Question 215
The Regime of Regulating Public Land 215
The Land Question 217
The Urban Question 221
The Rent Question 223
Annex: Note on Data 227
References 229
Index 261