The conditions for capital investment in the real estate sector, the case of office development in Toronto

grantor: University of TorontoThis study presents an examination of office development in Canada and specifically in the Toronto metropolitan region in the post-WWII era. The major purpose of this inquiry is to document and analyze the spatial patterns of office development produced by real estate developers in conjunction with financial agents. The changing real estate sector in Canada during the last fifty years provides the backdrop for this research. The major argument put forward emphasizes spatial limits that shape the geographic scope of office development. The heterogeneity of space prompts the production and maintenance of distinctive surfaces over which office development takes place. The idea of capital switching between circuits of accumulation is expanded to include switching practices within the real estate sector. This notion is introduced through the concept of 'three dimensions of capital switching'. In the office development process, one of the major agents is the real estate developer. Developers perform two basic spatial tasks: they 'lock' capital into specific places by engaging in the development of office buildings, and they either continue to operate in customary locations or switch their operational preferences between different places. With respect to spatial fields of operations, a distinction between two spatial scales is made. Uneven conditions experienced by different cities are a major stimulus for variable spatial practices experienced by developers. Within the Canadian urban system, large developers prefer to invest in specific top-tier cities, particularly Toronto and Calgary and to a lesser extent in Montreal and Vancouver. The preferences of developers indicate that office development is spatially selective and based on specific regional and local conditions. At the intra-metropolitan level, uneven conditions result in a distinct spatial division of labour among the developers of office buildings. Office development in the Toronto area illustrates the ability of developers to pursue development in particular settings. Their practices result from compatibility with particular environments and with specific societal arrangements. This in turn produces and reproduces territories that are conceptualized as office development districts.Ph.D