Sex and the Revitalized City

Young, single women emerged in the late 1990s as powerful consumers in the wave of real estate development that was overtaking and reshaping the landscape of cities. Newspaper reports and depictions of urban women in popular culture suggested that condominium living in particular was offering women new-found freedom, financial independence, and personal security. But is home ownership a path to liberation for women, or were these reports merely celebratory rhetoric that disguised more disquieting trends? To get at the reality behind the rhetoric, Sex and the Revitalized City approaches the phenomenon from the perspective of planners, developers, and condo owners in Toronto. Explorations of three themes – tenure, community, and lifestyle – within the context of a critical analysis of the neoliberal agenda reveal that the relationship between women and the city is being remade in the image of fast capital and consumer citizenship. Filtered through condominium ownership, neoliberal ideologies are not freeing women from constraints – they are reinforcing patriarchal norms. This fresh look at gentrification and urban revitalization exposes the notion of women’s emancipation through condominium ownership as a marketing ploy rather than a major shift in gender relations.