ABSTRACT
Economic models based on rational choice theories fail to account for powerful coalitions that promote and benefit from value-free growth of large cities. Higher land values are the result of the success of this growth machine. This paradigm accentuates aggregate economic output of major metropolitan areas and its indifference to distributional disparities has created a growing divide between owners and renters, as well as between low-wage and high-wage workers in terms of housing affordability. However, the rise of extreme wealth equality, and the preferred role of land in global wealth banking makes the local growth machine less relevant in urban policy. Thus, growing inequality in the twenty-first century is disrupting the traditional urban growth model. Land values are rising faster than the economy in counties with concentrations of wealth, such as Santa Clara. However, this is not a stable state. By being connected to social and economic well-being of people, housing is more than an economic commodity. Housing problems are increasingly tied to global political problems related to finance, welfare, immigration, culture and climate, and defy a housing solution.
