The real estate and financial crisis is confronting the disciplines architecture and urbanism with the consequences of the close interdependence of financial markets and the building sector. In the 1990s these spatial design disciplines as well as many others were enticed by the triumph of neo-liberalism to step back from their responsibility for a sustainable spatial development in favor of the short-term profit of private investment firms. Still in the turn of the century the international URBAN 21 report had proclaimed in the mainstream of both disciplines the common goal to privatize municipal services, to offensively attract global financial capital and to predominantly follow global locational competitiveness.
The eruption of the financial capital now results in long-term distortions in socio-economic conditions, spatial patterns of regions and urban structures of utilization. After the mortgage crisis in the US vacant houses have started to announce the decline of entire residential streets and neighborhoods. In many cities camping sites have popped up, to which previous owners of housing property are taking refuge after thousands of foreclosures: They are no longer able to amortize the mortgage, that exceeds the value of their property. The living concept of suburbia is in question.
The financial crisis leads to far-reaching changes in the architectural practice and its urban fields of activity. Architectural firms around the world respond to the decreased demand with job cuts and closings of branches. Prestigious construction projects in previously booming cities like Dubai or Las Vegas are cancelled or scaled down. In the burst of the real estate bubble the building industry is suffering from drastic personnel and financial cuts. In addition massive geographic dislocations take place: Do architects and urbanists share the responsibility for the building boom in several world regions prior to the crisis?
Form Follows Finance: How far do instruments of the financial market influence the direction of architecture and urban development? What is the impact of the financial crises on urban settlements and infrastructures worldwide? What are the long-term implications for the future of architecture and urban design?