Contemporary European City-Making Process Materialization-Emptying-Regeneration on Large Land Properties

Abstract

This chapter provides a particular methodology in the field of Urban Studies for understanding the European cities’ making process from the late 19th century onward, its features are the following. Firstly, the proposed approach refers to the construction, emptying, and regeneration of specific high-consuming-land activities and functions (i.e., industrial, military, and railway settlements and, more generally, equipment and services such as markets and schools). Secondly, the particularity of these activities and functions is the need of large properties of land to conduct their activities. As a result, while performing, they are producing an ‘urban land rent’ (Campos Venuti 1971: 1–44) and subsequently they can undergo real estate and financial operations to foster urban renewal and regeneration processes (Álvarez Mora and Camerin 2019).