Towards a spatial history of debt: planning and the production of value in Amsterdam 1870–2010

Gabriel Schwake and Iris Burgers

Planning Perspectives, 2025, vol. 40, issue 5, 1155-1184

Abstract: This paper focuses on the multifaceted role of debt within urban development and planning. Drawing on David Graeber's conceptualization of debt as an integral part of human history, this paper first identifies debt as a key catalyst for economic development, speculation, and accumulation within the capitalist paradigm. Accordingly, we challenge the concept of the spatial fix as a means to redirect surplus values and highlight debt as a mechanism of original accumulation. Examining four distinct neighbourhoods in Amsterdam spanning over a century, we explore the interaction between financing mechanisms, debt structures, and urban planning decisions. By historicizing and contextualizing the evolution of planning strategies alongside corresponding shifts in debt dynamics, this paper argues that debt and planning are intertwined in a symbiotic relationship with a direct influence on the formation and transformation of urban landscapes. Ultimately, this paper advocates for the integration of the debt perspective in future research endeavours as it forms a methodological and theoretical framework that would enhance our understanding of the dynamics of capitalist urbanization and the spatial logic governing urban development.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/02665433.2025.2504609

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