[edanm]

"Very little about the real estate market is emergent. This is an excellent example of a market created by society."

What is the difference between the market being "emergent" and being created by society?

Isn't "created by society" just code for a process that's happened without any one person planning it, over a long time, adding more and more rules to make the world like it is? That's sounds pretty "emergent" to me.

[superuser2]

In this context I'd argue emergent is the opposite of "designed as public policy" - more like "naturally happens." Though I suppose you could say public policy is itself emergent.