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Development and Developers: Perspectives on Property Edited by Simon Guy and John Henneberry Blackwell Publishing 2002 308 pp. ISBN 0-632-05842-0.
This book brings together 14 contributions from leading academics and respected practitioners in the UK. As listed in the preface, the purpose for the book is first, to demonstrate the heterogenous nature of research on development and developers. Second, to highlight the inter-relationships between particular methodological standpoints and the way in which they illuminate particular facets of the property business. Third, to argue for a more inclusive, interdisciplinary approach to property research which connects to wider debates within urban studies.
The book, comprising more than 300 pages, is divided into 15 chapters -- each addressing specific areas of property development. The organization of the book is structured as follows: in the first chapter, the editors highlight the difficulty in defining the built environment, which is abstract and inevitably colored by the perspectives, theories and methodologies adopted by the individual researcher. Chapters 2 and 3 introduce the institutional perspective to development. Chapters 4 and 5 provide insights into the techniques used by developers to help them make decisions in a dynamic market environment. Chapters 6 to 10 examine the interrelationships between agency and structure, whilst Chapters 11 to 14 link the perspectives and changing strategies of development actors to the shifting relations of property provision over space and time. In the concluding chapter, the editors make a final argument for a more inclusive, interdisciplinary approach to property research.
The topics covered in the book include:
* The market context of property development activity.
* Modeling the development sector of the property market.
* Market research for office real estate.
* The financial appraisal of development projects.
* Developers' decisions and property market behaviour.
* The organization of property development professions and practices.
* The impact of land management and development strategies on urban redevelopment prospects.
* Developers in local property markets: assessing the implications of developer experiences and attitudes in the re-use of vacant industrial buildings in an old industrial area.
* Systems theory and the commercial development process - towards an understanding of complex behaviour and change.
* Evolution in the supply of commercial real estate: the emergence of a...