How London was bought and sold by the super-rich and what it means for the rest of us.

How London was bought and sold by the Super-Rich, and what it means for the rest of us

Who owns London? In recent decades, it has fallen into the hands of the super-rich. It is today the essential 'World City' for High-Net-Worth Individuals and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individuals. Compared to New York or Tokyo, the two cities that bear the closest comparison, it has the largest number of wealthy people per head of population. Taken as a whole, London is the epicentre of the world's finance markets, an elite cultural hub, and a place to hide one's wealth.

Rowland Atkinson presents a history of the property boom economy, going back to the end of Empire. It tells the story of eager developers, sovereign wealth and grasping politicians, all paving the way for the wealthy colonisation of the cityscape. The consequences of this transformation of the capital for capital is the brutal expulsion of the urban poor, austerity, cuts, demolitions, and a catalogue of social injustices. This Faustian pact has resulted in the sale and destruction of public assets, while the rich turn a blind eye toward criminal money laundering to feather their own nests.

Alpha City moves from gated communities and the mega-houses of the super-rich to the disturbing rise of evictions and displacements from the city. It shows how the consequences of widening inequality have an impact on the urban landscape.

"A fascinating interdisciplinary study, which is a must read for anyone interested in the links between emotional security, private security, surveillance and the architecture of an increasingly militarised environment." - [on Domestic Fortress]

"An urgent and important book that should be read by anyone keen to get to grips with the ways homes are morphing into fortresses across the world." - [on Domestic Fortress]

"In Alpha Cities, Rowland Atkinson lays bare how London has been geared up as the world's monument to inequality. It exposes the tactics of gilded elites alongside their legions of enablers and hangers on, and the ways in which they have turned an already tough city into a 21st century dystopia, where the ultra-rich glide through pristine, soulless environments while the infrastructure we all need decays around us. This fast-paced guide to the new gilded age is a timely warning of how much damage inequality can do." - Douglas Murphy, author of Nincompoopolis

"Timely and relevant...Alpha City takes us through the ugly world of a mega city captured by wealth. Cities and towns have always struggled with inequality and the social and spatial realities of unequal access to power and resources. In the great global cities, such as London and New York, these inequalities have often been more stark." - Irish Times

"An urgent reminder of the capital's inequalities." - Independent

"The inequalities are glaring. It is a revealing but unsettling read, whatever page you land on." - Camden New Journal

"Essential reading before Covid-19, is even more so now . . .vividly describes how the super-rich have distorted the socioeconomic and physical landscape of London" - Morning Star

"[Atkinson] writes with flair. The long-term result of the pressures he charts is starting to be felt." - Times Literary Supplement