Neighborhood change beyond clear storylines: what can assemblage and complexity theories contribute to understandings of seemingly paradoxical neighborhood development?

Abstract

ABSTRACTNeighborhood research today is largely concerned with two central aspects of neighborhood development: gentrification and decline. This paper sets out to enrich the discourse on neighborhood change, especially that concerned with so-called declining neighborhoods, by drawing on assemblage and complexity theories. These approaches emphasize processes, interdependencies, uncertainties, surprising shifts, and feedback loops in the production of specific spatial formations. We apply this framework in an examination of the development of two neighborhoods in Leipzig: an inner-city district and a large housing estate. We identify internal and external factors impacting these neighborhoods’ trajectories and demonstrate how various multidirectional shifts are crucial to the specific paths—and the understanding—of these neighborhoods’ development. From a conceptual perspective, we advocate for the use of assemblage thinking in addition to existing approaches to neighborhood change.