ABSTRACT
Scholars studying the political economy of land have been increasingly concerned by the policies and politics of public real estate privatization for about a decade. While the linkage between fiscal stress, consolidation policies and public real estate disposal is well established, it is worth questioning whether or not this political economy of austerity can be subsumed under neo-liberalization. Streeck's perspective not only contributes to reinserting neoliberal policies that target public real estate into the political economy of the consolidation state, but also provides an understanding of the link between austerity and financialized capitalism. Despite Streeck's contribution, and while financialization has been one of the main topics in urban political economy in the past decade, scholars studying public real estate privatization in European countries have not reached a consensus about its role as a driver and/or consequence of public real estate privatization.
