Diasporic capital and the financialisation of housing in Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

In recent years, policymakers and development practitioners have focused on the potential of remittances for economic growth. The World Bank projects that remittances will soon outpace overseas aid and foreign direct investment combined in low- and middle-income countries. This article examines how remittances, or what I call ‘diasporic capital’, sustain urban financialisation at multiple scales. Most research on urban restructuring in the financialisation literature has focused on major corporations, management actors and financial markets without considering the specific sources of capital flows. Diasporic capital flow is facilitated through a unique financial architecture and an incoherent regulatory framework distinct from foreign direct investment. Drawing from interviews conducted with government stakeholders, private sector representatives and members of the Vietnamese diaspora, this article examines the actors, motivations, mechanisms, regulations and products that shape and constitute diasporic capital flow. I argue that classical notions of remittances as money supporting the social reproduction of family are outdated and do not reflect emergent forms of diasporic investments in Ho Chi Minh City’s financialised landscape.