Developers and ‘Green’ property? New Forms of Elite Accumulation

Abstract

This paper unpacks the inequality implications of newer forms of elite accumulation through the making of ‘green’ property by developers. A large listed developer in Gauteng that focusses on building the lower end of the luxury-gated estate housing market has been selected as a case study. The case study company uses the Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) certification, an environmental rating tool for residential properties in South Africa, developed by the International Financial Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. The global financial context of EDGE is the prioritization of environmental, social and governance principles by institutional investors that has ripened the market potential of ‘green’ property. Achieving the EDGE standard requires a minimum 20% savings in energy consumption, water, and materials. The EDGE certification helps cut production costs, motivates off-gridding, allows homeowners to access mortgage subsidies, decreases utility costs for tenants, and increases property sales for the developer in gated estates. Through textual analysis and in-depth interviews with developers, state authorities, and financial institutions we show how elite networks package EDGE certification as a lucrative property option. They weaken public entities by introducing opaque, private governance systems, by using speculative and exclusionary ‘green’ urbanism to legitimize new forms of elite accumulation.