Condo Conquest

Lippert's argument is based on extensive interviews with owners, condo corporation directors, property managers, realtors, and others in Toronto and New York. Lippert builds his case with a close reading of the documents that delineate condo living: statutes that seem to grow more elaborate with each legislative revision, as well as corporation bylaws, reserve fund studies, house-rules documents, and the shorthand legal opinions that flood into condos from the newsletters of lawyers representing boards, property managers, and builders. John Lorinc, Literary Review of Canada

Randy Lippert’s excellent study of how ‘condo life’ quickly became popular is a fabulous and timely contribution to urban studies. Condos are not just architectural forms – they are complex social and legal entities. It is urgent that those who live in them – as well as city officials, mayors, urban planners, and legal scholars – understand the new governance landscape in our cities, which has erupted as quickly as the glass towers have been built. Mariana Valverde, professor at the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto

I have read just about every book on condominium housing and governance that has been published to date and this is by far the best work to come from a critical urban studies perspective. Evan McKenzie, professor of political science, University of Illinois

Urbanites are increasingly regulated by condominium boards. Yet, until Randy Lippert’s instructive and compelling account, we knew very little about how condo governance actually works. This important book will be of interest to people who care about cities, how they work, and how they are ruled. Nicholas Blomley, professor of geography, Simon Fraser University