Gentrification within Australia's 'Problem City': Inner Newcastle as a Zone of Residential Transition

Abstract

Inner Newcastle has undergone a significant reorientation of both its residential composition and physical form over the last decade. The process of gentrification within two inner city suburbs (Cook’s Hill and Newcastle East) indicates the existence of an emergent consumer class within inner Newcastle. The spatial occurrence of this group within inner Newcastle can be considered as a strategy for the creation of a distinctive identity based upon inner city residency and conspicuous consumption. Consumption of the inner city operates at a variety of scales including the refurbishment of historic terraced housing and cottages and participation within inner Newcastle’s developing café culture.