Branded Heritage and Real Estate: The Making of Urban Value

Branded Heritage and Real Estate presents a bold and timely investigation into the intersection of two powerful forces reshaping our cities today: the financialisation of space and the strategic use of heritage as a vehicle for profit. Heritage can certainly be consumed, but it can be endlessly consumed, because its ageing, unlike ours, is infinite. Regeneration projects that present themselves as “eternal” do not undermine the meaning of history; instead, they align with capital’s objective to continuously renew value in forms that strive for permanence. Driven by concerns about growing inequality, this book examines how heritage is strategically employed to validate and boost real estate development amid crisis and rising inequality. With London as a central case study, the book probes the rhetoric of "value", unpacking the political nature of heritage in urban branding, exclusionary redevelopment, and constructed narratives of authenticity, ultimately revealing its role as a malleable asset within global real estate dynamics. Essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and students of urban studies, geography, architecture, and cultural politics, this book offers fresh perspectives on the contested meanings of heritage and its intersection with urban inequality and redevelopment.