UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rachel Weber, professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will present "Seizing the Means of Prediction: Why the Future Belongs to Property Speculators," at the Department of Geography's Coffee Hour lecture series. Her talk is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 22, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus and will also be available via Zoom.
In her talk, Weber will delve into an industry analysis focusing on the professionals that generate knowledge for investment funds involved in buying and selling commercial real estate. Weber says these individuals are essential to systems that provide knowledge for investors, aiming to optimize their returns by analyzing how the value of investments changes over time.
Weber will explore the expansion of futuring techniques and data sources since the last half-century, which are designed to guide property speculators to potentially lucrative opportunities. She will discuss the transformation of the property data and forecasting industry post-global financial crisis, highlighting the rise of an oligopolistic market structure formed through contentious mergers and acquisitions. By examining the evolving methods through which capital forecasts and assesses its performance, Weber will discuss the implications of market concentration for urban development and the broader discourse on rights to the city.
Weber, an urban planner, political economist and economic geographer, investigates the nexus between finance and the built environment. Her research primarily focuses on various financial instruments, like tax increment financing, and infrastructures, like school facilities, toll roads and commercial real estate. She is interested in why cities adopt certain instruments and how the use of particular methods of raising capital affects who benefits from and pays for urban infrastructures. She has advanced the concept of “financialization” as shorthand for how these tools bring new politics, kinds of knowledge, and risks to bear on policy and development decisions.
Weber's academic background includes a doctorate in city and regional planning from Cornell University, along with a stint as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University. She also holds a master’s of regional planning and a bachelor’s degree in development studies from Cornell University and Brown University, respectively.
Weber has been actively involved with several organizations and initiatives, including serving on the Board of Directors for the Oak Park Residence Corporation, participating in the Advisory Committee for Chicago United for Equity, working with the Tax Increment Financing Reform Task Force initiated by former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and contributing to the Urban Policy Advisory Committee for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Weber’s talk is part of the spring 2024 "Coffee Hour" seminar series hosted by Penn State’s Department of Geography. To learn more and access the Zoom information, visit the Coffee Hour event webpage.