ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the economic logic behind the construction of lavish buildings schemes, that is, urban projects that display a blend of creative architecture, quality craftsmanship and high-end building materials applied to create unique and luxurious space for business, living or leisure purposes. Clusters are defined as geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, and institutions in a particular field', which include specialized suppliers, service providers and associated institutions, but also specialized infrastructure. The cluster approach has been widely adopted. Architecture and lavish construction schemes played a central role in this strategy. The lavish construction schemes are generally created with state money and serve the purpose of branding the city. Amsden agrees with Gerschenkron's finding that the state played a different and much more active and interventionist role in the industrialization process among the states that began to industrialize in the twentieth century.
