‘Super-gentrification’ triumphs: gentrification and the displacement of public housing tenants in Sydney’s inner-city

Abstract

This study analyses the super-gentrification of Millers Point, an inner-city area in Sydney, Australia, and the displacement of its 465 public housing tenants. Drawing on in-depth interviews with public housing tenants and homeowners, media reports and government media releases, it argues that a key reason for the displacement was the super-gentrification of the area that was hastened dramatically by the Barangaroo development, a massive urban spectacle on the site of the old port adjacent to Millers Point. Unlike the earlier analyses of super-gentrification described by Lees and Butler where an already gentrified area is settled by super wealthy households over a period of time, the shift to super-gentrification status in Millers Point did not involve households moving into an area already gentrified. Rather, the process was premised on the Barangaroo development and the displacement of public housing tenants. The displacement meant that the heritage-listed public housing dwelling were now available for purchase by exceptionally wealthy households.