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  • © 2017

Cities and the Super-Rich

Real Estate, Elite Practices and Urban Political Economies

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Highlights the need to look beyond the super-rich by examining the underlying structural forces that have contributed to their emergence, growth, and development.
  • Considers how the super-rich have been discursively and materially co-produced by various stakeholders (e.g. governments, politicians, intermediaries, the media, etc.).
  • Showcases the different (segregated and integrative) forms of elite practices and super-rich spatialities in different cities.
  • Interrogates the wider political economy of the 1% city.

Part of the book series: The Contemporary City (TCONTCI)

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
  2. In Search of the Super-Rich: Who Are They? Where Are They?

    • Ray Forrest, Sin Yee Koh, Bart Wissink
    Pages 1-18
  3. Real Estate Investments

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 39-39
    2. Real Estate Holdings Among the Super-Rich in the USA

      • Richard A. Benton, Lisa A. Keister, Hang Young Lee
      Pages 41-62
  4. Urban Political Economies

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 187-187
    2. Tycoon City: Political Economy, Real Estate and the Super-Rich in Hong Kong

      • Bart Wissink, Sin Yee Koh, Ray Forrest
      Pages 229-252
    3. Minimum City? The Deeper Impacts of the ‘Super-Rich’ on Urban Life

      • Rowland Atkinson, Roger Burrows, Luna Glucksberg, Hang Kei Ho, Caroline Knowles, David Rhodes
      Pages 253-271
    4. Hyper-Divided Cities and the ‘Immoral’ Super-Rich: Five Parting Questions

      • Ray Forrest, Sin Yee Koh, Bart Wissink
      Pages 273-287
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 289-296

About this book

With the rise of wealth inequalities, our cities are changing dramatically. This collection critically engages with and advances existing debates on the super-rich and their roles in these transformations.  An interdisciplinary range of contributions from international experts including sociologists, geographers, historians, discourse analysts, and urban studies specialists reveal crucial aspects of the real estate investment practices of the super-rich, their social spaces in the city as well as the distinct influence of the super-rich on the transformation of four key cities: London, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. By drawing together diverse disciplines, perspectives, and experiences across different geographical contexts, this book offers a fresh, comparative, and nuanced take on the super-rich and the 1% city, as well as a solid, empirically and theoretically grounded basis to think about future research questions and policy implications.



Editors and Affiliations

  • City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Ray Forrest

  • Institute of Asian Studies, University Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam

    Sin Yee Koh

  • City University of Hong Kong , Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Bart Wissink

About the editors

Ray Forrest is Chair Professor of Housing and Urban Studies, Urban Research Group, Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong.

Sin Yee Koh is Assistant Professor of Geography, Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.


Bart Wissink is Associate Professor of Urban Studies and Urban Policy, Urban Research Group, Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong.




Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Cities and the Super-Rich

  • Book Subtitle: Real Estate, Elite Practices and Urban Political Economies

  • Editors: Ray Forrest, Sin Yee Koh, Bart Wissink

  • Series Title: The Contemporary City

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54834-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-55715-5Published: 28 February 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-71808-5Published: 01 October 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-54834-4Published: 28 February 2017

  • Series ISSN: 2634-5463

  • Series E-ISSN: 2634-5471

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXI, 296

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Urban Studies/Sociology, Urban Economics, Social Structure, Social Inequality

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access