Rising cities: Condominium development and the private transformation of the metropolis

•Condominiums transform the social and physical geography of the metropolis.•Condos are an important segment of housing construction in central cities.•Condo-ism counters dispersion and is linked to changes in meanings of urbanism.•Condo-ism resettles the city on behalf of the middle class.•It imposes the logic of exchange value into urban governance and social life.

Many of North America's cities have begun to shift from a dynamic pattern of development driven by changes at the edge, to one driven by dynamism at the center. One aspect of this that has not received sufficient attention is the role of the condominium, a form of private urban governance that overlaps with, but is distinct from, gated communities. Using quantitative data from Canada and the United States, and qualitative survey data for respondents in key cities in Canada, we demonstrate that condominiums have been key to the growth of new housing in the central cities of large metropolitan areas. “Condo-ism” refers simultaneously to the self-reinforcing processes re-producing intensification, downtown living and gentrification via condominium-tenure, as well as to the financial-construction nexus at the heart of condominium development, and the social, cultural and political transformations that they are begetting.While condo-ism is a force that is countering decades-long trends toward dispersion, it is also associated with changing social attitudes and values of city residents, and cultural meanings of urbanism. Condo-ism resettles the city on behalf of the middle class, and imposes the logic of exchange value into the fabric of urban governance and social life. Condo-ism is thus an important factor in the private production and reproduction of the contemporary city.