Post-socialist urban financialization in Serbia: An empirical insight

Abstract

The paper explores Serbia’s post-socialist financialization based on the galloping urban real estate trends after the global crisis in 2008. Financialization as a global process had a significant role in the socio-economic development and urban changes in different contextual frameworks, including the post-socialist European countries. However, there are not enough studies on financialization in these countries, while in Serbia they are completely absent. Focusing on post-socialist Serbia in the post-crisis period, the paper situates the narrative of urban financialization into the broader context by: illuminating the financialization dimensions; identifying the indicators for selected financialization dimensions; analyzing concrete data for selected financialization dimensions by specific indicators, and comparing available indicators of financialization with those in some post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and South-Eastern Europe (SEE). The empirical analysis provides insight into the complex nature of urban financialization which is measured by specific indicators. The findings point to a connection between the intertwining of global financial and macroeconomic trends and the urban development processes. It is assumed that there is a certain correlation and interconnection between (urban) financialization and developmental, monetary and financial policies and foreign financial inflows in Serbia.