‘"Gentrification" is shorthand for a process of restructuring cities that has major implications for their future and the welfare of their residents. It has, for that very reason, become a highly controversial subject, slippery and subject to discordant interpretations and responses. This excellent book gets to the heart of the problem, presenting orthodoxies and critiques, empirical and theoretical approaches, and cases from widely differing contexts, providing raw meat for real debates.’ Peter Marcuse, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
‘What a marvelous, comprehensive treatment of this evolving, now mainstream, urban process, correctly characterized as neo-colonialism. Provides an international perspective and highlights the key role of the state.’ Chester Hartman, Director of Research, Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Washington, DC, USA
Gentrification remains a subject of heated debate in the public realm as well as scholarly and policy circles. This Reader brings together the classic writings and contemporary literature that has helped to define the field, changed the direction of how it is studied and illustrated the points of conflict and consensus that are distinctive of gentrification research. Covering everything from the theories of gentrification through to analysis of state-led policies and community resistance to those polices, this is an unparalleled collection of influential writings on a contentious contemporary issue. With insightful commentary from the editors, who are themselves internationally renowned experts in the field, this is essential reading for students of urban planning, geography, urban studies, sociology and housing studies.
Selected Contents: Part 1: Defining Gentrification Introduction 1. Gentrification 2. On definitions 3. The chaos and complexity of gentrification 4. The order and simplicity of gentrification - a political challenge Part 2: Stage Models of Gentrification Introduction 5. Neighbourhood renewal: middle-class resettlement and incumbent upgrading in American Neighbourhoods 6. Islands of renewal in seas of decay 7. The demise of gentrification? A commentary and prospective view 8. The changing state of gentrification Part 3: Explaining/Theorizing Gentrification Introduction Section A. Production side explanations Introduction 9. Toward a theory of gentrification: a back to the city movement by capital, not people 10. Gentrification and the rent gap Reply: the rent gap revisited 11. ‘The rent gap debunked’ 12. Re-establishing the rent gap: an alternative view of capitalized land rent Section B. Consumption side explanations Introduction 13. Gentrification and the politics of the new middle class 14. Class definitions and the esthetics of gentrification: Victoriana in Melbourne 15. Gentrification and desire 16. ‘Life on the upslope': the postmodern landscape of gentrification Section C. Moving outside of the production versus consumption stalemate Introduction 17. Rethinking gentrification: beyond the uneven development of Marxist urban theory 18. Gentrification: culture and capital in the urban core 19. ‘The blind men and the elephant: the explanation of gentrification’ 20. On blindness, centerpieces and complementarity in gentrification theory Section D. Gentrification and gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity Introduction 21. Gender divisions and gentrification: a critique 22. Towards an Analysis of the Role of Gay Communities in the Urban Renaissance 23. Can you go home again? Black gentrification and the dilemma of difference 24. Negotiating Grit and Glamour: young women of color and the gentrification of the Lower East Side Part 4: Gentrification and Displacement Introduction 25. Neighborhood revitalization and displacement: a review of the evidence 26. Abandonment, gentrification and displacement: the linkages in New York City 27. The hidden costs of gentrification: displacement in Central London 28. Gentrification and displacement new York City in the 1990s Part 5: Geographies of gentrification Introduction 29. A re-appraisal of gentrification: towards a ‘geography of gentrification’ 30. Social capital, gentrification and neighbourhood change in London: a comparison of three south London neighbourhoods 31. I want to be global: theorizing the gentrifying class as an emergent elite global community 32. Other geographies of gentrification Part 6: Gentrification and Urban Policy Introduction 33. The Case for Gentrification 34. Islands of decay in seas of renewal: housing policy and the resurgence of gentrification 35. New globalism, new urbanism: gentrification as global urban strategy 36. Gentrification as a governmental strategy: social control and social cohesion in Hoogvliet, Rotterdam Part 7: Resisting Gentrification Introduction 37. The right to stay put 38. The right to stay put, revisited: gentrification and resistance to displacement in New York City 39. The eviction of critical perspectives from gentrification reseach 40. In the Face of Gentrification: Case Studies of Local Efforts to Mitigate Displacement