ABSTRACT
When Comaroff and Comaroff spoke of ‘magic economies’ that emerge with neoliberalism, they did not include the imagery of real estate markets, but they did identify a rhetoric of individual self-transformation that leads to (excess) material gain and through this to social success. In Indian cities today, excessive gain and magic economies are closely associated with new material cultures of real estate markets and urban restructuring, which for middle-class citizens are increasingly symbolised by apartment living (Comaroff and Comaroff 2000). Not only are housing and urban changes a determinant of structural inclusion and exclusion; they also signify citizenship in post-liberalisation India. Today, the imagery of condominium residences, malls and other markers of ‘global’ cities have fused with more aspirational and consumer-orientated lifestyles, and increasingly middle-class citizens see real estate markets as part of desirable modern urbanity and home ownership as a marker of successful social actors. However, properties are also often homes, and thus are much more than mere objects with an exchange value and a powerful association with upward mobility, as the built environment shapes and determines the lives of those who produce, procure and use it in multiple ways.
