Urban infrastructure finance and its relationship to land markets, land development, and sustainability: a case study of the city of Islamabad, Pakistan

This study addresses the connection between financialization of real-estate, individual investment objectives, and urban sustainability. It uses a survey approach to explore the relationship between the financialization of urban development and its influence on urban sustainability in a developing country. We found that the respondents prefer to invest in real-estate to achieve a return on investment, rather than to build a house to live in. This behavior increases urban sprawl resulting in a slower occupancy growth rate and causes a delay in the provision of basic amenities, hence affecting urban sustainability. We conclude that it is necessary to create a balance between urban land development requirements for housing needs, investment requirements for revenue generation, and individual savings requirements. The study contributes to the literature on financialization by adding the view of individual private investors to the research that mainly addresses institutional investors.