Urban renewal policies and appreciation of real estate and land markets. The economic districts in the city of Buenos Aires

Abstract

Since 2008, the Economic District Policy in the City of Buenos Aires has concentrated interventions that extend and intensify urban renovation in areas historically dismissed by capital investment and by the state. Recognizing local government’s central role in this policy, this paper presents and analyzes some of the its territorial effects, specifically the appreciation of real estate and land markets in the city’s southern neighborhoods. Using a methodology that is both qualitative and quantitative, this study evaluates sales offerings of plots of land, apartments, offices and storefronts from 2003 to 2017, and considers archival sources and interviews with key informants to verify the appreciation of real estate values in the south of the city, allowing for a discussion about the Economic District Policy’s exclusionary effects.