Abstract
Reflecting a broader form of neo-liberal urban policy underlying the progressive return of capital investment, gentrification is a key issue in urban studies. Although earlier definitions of “gentrification” focused mostly on socio-cultural processes, recent works have qualified gentrification as a mixed political–economic issue. Clarifying whether inner city gentrification should be supported, controlled, constricted, or prevented is a key debate in urban sustainability and metabolism, contributing to managing and, possibly, enhancing metropolitan resilience. To define the causes and consequences of gentrification, understanding the intrinsic linkage with different social contexts is crucial. There are no universal and comprehensive gentrification processes, displaying similarities and differences at the same time. A comparative analysis of different forms of gentrification and urban change provides basic knowledge to delineate complex, non-linear paths of socioeconomic development in cities, shedding light on the increased socioeconomic complexity and the most appropriate policies to fuel metropolitan sustainability in a broader context of global change. From this perspective, our commentary focuses on the main issues at the base of gentrification in Europe, starting from basic definitions and providing a regional vision distinguishing three “gentrification ideal-types” (northern, eastern, and Mediterranean). The implications of these different socioeconomic processes for the policy and governance of sustainable and resilient cities were discussed, evidencing new lines of investigation to frame (or re-frame) the increasing complexity of urbanization patterns and processes.
Highlights
Gentrification is a multi-faceted concept that has been intensively investigated according to economic structures and performances, social dynamics, demographic trends, and local government policy
We propose a literature review of gentrification in Europe, highlighting similarities and differences and reconnecting these processes with more general socioeconomic conditions and territorial contexts characteristic of cities and metropolitan regions across the continent
The privatization of public housing units, incentives for modernization, and the growing rental gap have led to enormous displacement pressures, and gentrification has become the new urban norm for vast parts of the urban core, leading sometimes to anti-gentrification movements and putting pressure on local administrations for a completely new housing policy
Summary
Gentrification is a multi-faceted concept that has been (more or less) intensively investigated according to economic structures and performances, social dynamics, demographic trends, and local government policy. The European continent provides a sort of “melting pot” of different processes of urban change—more or less intimately linked with gentrification—representing a interesting case study for the heterogeneity and fragmentation of the underlying socioeconomic forces at national, regional, and local scales Based on this premise, we propose a literature review of gentrification in Europe, highlighting similarities and differences and reconnecting these processes with more general socioeconomic conditions and territorial contexts characteristic of cities and metropolitan regions across the continent. A comparative analysis of the different forms of gentrification provides the necessary knowledge to delineate complex and non-linear paths of socioeconomic development in cities, shedding light on the increased urban complexity and the most appropriate policies to fuel metropolitan sustainability in a broader context of global change This commentary is organized in sequential sections, focusing on the main issues at the base of gentrification processes in Europe, starting from basic definitions of the process (Section 2). The policies to face gentrification all over Europe and in other advanced economies and how gentrification can contribute to (or harm) urban sustainability goals are debated
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