Global corporate landlordism and a new cycle of tenant contention

This introduction to the special issue offers a preliminary comparative reading of the struggles between global corporate landlords (GCLs) and tenants in contemporary urban landscapes. It traces the rise of GCLs in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the 2008 global financial crisis and suggests that their aggressive property management practices have catalysed a new cycle of tenant contention. Drawing on recent scholarship and the contributions to the special issue, it outlines the main characteristics and operational logics of GCLs, the repertoires of contention developed during this cycle and the key tenant demands and policy proposals that have emerged. The growing concentration of property and power in the hands of GCLs has also brought tenants together in common struggle across multiple sites and scales. While the outcomes of these struggles remain uncertain, they have given rise to radical tenant practices and demands that are beginning to challenge the decades-long trajectory of housing commodification and financialisation underpinning today’s global housing crisis.