"Real estate" and land ownership have always been intrinsically tied up in power dynamics - a fact that has played out and is playing out in ruthlessly consequential ways.
Local and national governments’ planning and zoning actions hold sway – within the ecosystem that shapes what gets built, where, and how. But ownership of land and properties itself has major implications: from access to housing, to climate and nature, to the rights of present and future generations.
Books like the new "Land Power" dig into this. Speculative fiction often centers visions of buildings, cities, and land. And indigenous peoples - in diverse ways - consider land as a living entity with which people have a reciprocal and custodial relationship rather than something that can be owned as property.
In this light, tracing patterns of ownership can be revelatory in terms of how the world is currently shaped, and how it could be shaped differently.
The above is a dramatically simplified unpacking of ownership types. It's a jumping-off point for inquiry and action in any specific place or context.
The groups are presented at random (the balance across them will vary hugely from place to place, and over time). Oftentimes these groups overlap, with two or three of them involved in one plot / project. And their ownership roles range from direct/controlling, to indirect. The image starts with simplicity, recognizing that each entity is a doorway to complexity and new questions. Specific examples of ownership mapping are here, from a global database of indigenous and community lands, to a breakdown of “Who owns all of New York”.
And a final (obvious but important) point: behind every one of these institutions and organizations are human beings with agency, ideas, networks – opening up possibilities for change.