Rachel is an Associate Professor in the Urban Planning and Policy Program at UIC. Her research focuses on different aspects of the capitalist state, particularly its complex relationship to the property sector and financial markets. Her dissertation research, which culminated in the book Swords into Dow Shares: Governing the Decline of the Military Industrial Complex, examined the shareholder-oriented restructuring strategies of defense contractors following the end of the Cold War. Rachel’s more recent work has focused on tax incentives offered by cities and states to private businesses. In particular, she has written extensively on the topic of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), arguably the most popular economic development strategy in the United States. Rachel and her colleagues have examined the impact of TIF on property values, school finance, and the fiscal health of cities. She has also published articles and reports on topics such as industrial policy, property tax appeals, measuring the value of urban design, financing green infrastructure, and the incidence of demolition.
Rachel's current research projects:
• A book on obsolescence in the built environment, which documents how the routine practices
of public and private professionals create incentives for periodic overbuilding and hasten the
pace at which older buildings are vacated and demolished.
• The Oxford University Press Handbook on Urban Planning, a compilation of 40-plus essays
reflecting the state of the field, which she is co-editing with Randy Crane, UCLA.
• A history of TIF in the United States, which examines the efforts of consulting planners during
the late Urban Renewal period to sustain the urban growth machine.
• An examination of the capital structure of recent asset lease and privatization deals with Phil
Ashton and Marc Doussard, UIC.
• A study of how the virtual secondary market for used commodities facilitated by eBay has
impacted bricks-and-mortar thrift and resale stores with Brenda Parker, UIC.
http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/upp/faculty/weber.html
Phone: (312) 355-0307
Email: rachelw@uic.edu