State-led Gentrification Research Articles

Should We Evict Critical Perspectives on the State-Led Gentrification of Council Estates in London? The Case of Woodberry Down

Research on council estate regeneration in London has revealed predominantly negative outcomes, including direct and indirect displacements, the loss of homes and communities, and the slow-violence enacted on residents by lengthy programs. Drawing on recent EU-funded research on Woodberry Down (Hackney), we highlight similar negative effects, alongside some positive, ambiguous, and novel outcomes. We discuss these mixed findings within two emerging trends: a new turn to criticizing “antigentrification” work on estate regeneration; and a housing policy turn back to promoting council homes and the refurbishment of council estates. We conclude that it is premature to evict “antigentrification” perspectives in the longue durée of estate regeneration in London, even in the case of Woodberry Down, which has had some significant community won victories. We also reveal new complicating factors in this “gentrification story”—“Guppies” and precarious private renters who are not the wealthy, professional gentrifiers of earlier new-build gentrification literatures.

The Nexus Between Touristification and Gentrification: A Case in Brufut Heights, the Gambia

Tourism development along the coast of the Gambia has caused an increase in the rate of gentrification in urban Gambia (See; Smith, 1982; Weisler, 2019). Commodification and financialization of land are relatively new in the Gambia but these phenomena have positive and negative impacts on communities. According to Aalbers (2008), the financialization of land and housing is unsustainable. When the laws of demand and supply control the housing sector as a financial mechanism, financial interest will dominate thereby gentrification and capitalized rent gap become eminent (Criekingen, 2008; Lapavitsas, 2013). This paper explored how stateinduced touristification influences gentrification vis-à-vis the nexus between touristification and gentrification. The study revealed that the touristification of Brufut Heights has caused an insupportable burden of gentrification, economic hardship, displacement, and increased crime rates. Over 98% of the respondents argue that they cannot afford a house in Brufut Heights, 99% believe that they are victims of state-led gentrification while 3% are not affected by touristification. 98% believed that there is a rapid increase in the rent gap around touristified areas causing displacements.

‘Inner-city is not the place for social housing’ – State-led gentrification in Łódź

From the point when it was noted for the first time, gentrification has changed, and so has the role of the State, as public intervention has become central to urban upgrading. A popular model of this development describes three waves of gentrification for the U.S. Whether or not these experiences are indeed global, however, remains under discussion – and this is particularly the case for post-socialist cities. Against this background, the paper wishes to contribute to the ongoing debate about “state-led gentrification” and test the applicability of a widely used model of gentrification in a different context than it was developed. The guiding questions of the paper are the following: 1) What is the significance of institutions/policies in shaping the onset and trajectory of gentrification in Łódź (Poland), and what are the contributing factors behind it? 2) What are the underlying similarities and distinctions between the case of state-led gentrification in Łódź, and the general features of this phenomenon observed in the Global North?

Does cycling infrastructure prioritize gentrifying neighborhoods? The case of Mexico City

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to test the existence of a relationship between gentrification and the presence of cycling infrastructure in central Mexico City using a sample of 555 neighborhoods in central Mexico City and drawing from open spatial data. This research is contextualized within a growing body of Latin American research on state-led gentrification and the role of infrastructure as a tool for urban revalorization. Results show the existence of a clear and significant correlation between cycling infrastructure and gentrification, revealing that the city’s improved bike infrastructure has overwhelmingly favored gentrifying neighborhoods, and support existing research on these programs as a tool of gentrification. In addition, when controlling for other variables, the level of cycling infrastructure acts as the main predictor of gentrification. These findings are compelling and have implications for mobility equity policy in the Mexico City context.

“Art district without artists”: urban redevelopment through industrial heritage renovation and the gentrification of industrial neighborhoods in China

ABSTRACT China’s shift from a socialist to a market economy has resulted in deindustrialization and the emergence of industrial heritage. Despite extensive research on state-led (re)development, limited knowledge exists on the changing role of state work-units (SWUs). Based on the case of Dahua 1935, the research reveals how the top-down production of art districts reshapes traditional work-unit urbanism. It also offers new insights into the gentrification of industrial neighborhoods under the combined forces of the state, SWUs, and private developers. The research finds that the gentrification of industrial neighborhoods cannot be fully captured by either art/artist-led gentrification or state-led gentrification. The changing role of Dahua company from a social provider in pre-reform China to an entrepreneurial and predatory organization in post-reform China has contributed to the remarkable urban transformation. The tension between socialist legacies and capitalist modes of urban (re)development poses a challenge to sustainable industrial heritage-led redevelopment in China.

More private than public: the choice neighborhoods initiative as another tool for state-led gentrification in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Denver CO

ABSTRACT Through the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI), private investors and developers replace distressed US public housing with new mixed-income and mixed-use developments. Although these projects promote community involvement and are purported to prioritize community input and to benefit residents, private investors have disproportionate power and often modify redevelopment to favor the market-rate units while receiving tax incentives, extremely low-cost and long-term land-leases, and government funds for demolition, construction, maintenance, and management. Through a CNI program in Denver (US) we identify and examine the hardships experienced by its residents. CNI transitioned residents toward modern living amenities and mixed-income arrangements but with a loss of community and negatively impacted residents’ mental and physical health. Our initial findings highlight how this regeneration process can lead to degeneration, displacement, fragmented communities, and poor health outcomes for residents. Federal and local agencies should commit to programs that ensures collaborative community-centred planning from beginning to end.

Calgary and the 'creative class': The interface between public policy and gentrification

In The Rise of the Creative Class (2002) Richard Florida argues that for cities to compete for economic growth in the 21st century, they must appeal to the interests of the creative class. The creative class is said to be drawn to places that have the 4Ts: tolerance, technology, talent, and territorial assets. In Calgary, Alberta, where the volatility of the oil and gas sectors has caused ongoing economic uncertainty, officials have urged a need for economic diversification. This research illustrates that amid ongoing economic challenges in Calgary, the principles espoused through Florida's creative class model have been adopted and integrated into public policy. However, while the City has focused on providing a rich urban experience with quality amenities to appeal to the creative class, the success in attracting and retaining talent thus far has been limited. Instead, efforts have negative consequences, as this approach reflects a practice referred to as state-led gentrification which has fueled new-build gentrification in Calgary's inner-city.

Fear and loathing in north London: Experiencing estate regeneration as psychosocial degeneration

This article analyses residents’ emotional responses to the regeneration – involving demolition and rebuilding – of West Hendon council housing estate in north London. Based on ethnographic research, the article outlines what living on the estate meant for its working-class residents in terms of providing ontological security and place belonging prior to regeneration. The reality of regeneration for residents involved multiple layers of physical, social, symbolic and psychosocial ‘degeneration’. The article’s focus is psychosocial degeneration, which is illustrated through three emotional dimensions: frustration, anger and betrayal arising from broken promises; stress resulting from living near a building site; and displacement anxiety regarding the uncertainties of where and when they would be relocated. The article highlights how residents are emotionally scarred by the protracted, opaque, ever-changing regeneration process. The reality of regeneration/degeneration for residents – involving state-led gentrification – is at stark variance to the official narrative that regeneration entails a smooth, unidirectional trajectory of improving homes and communities.

Gentrification in the Command Economy: A Story of Pyongyang Metropolitan Area in North Korea

Background and objective: Gentrification generally refers to changes in residents or operators in neighborhoods by investment in capital, a phenomenon in which wealthy or young professionals replace existing residents or operators in socioeconomic terms. Although conducted mainly in capitalist cities, some studies dealt with socialist systems or state-led gentrification. We intended to demonstrate the gentrification in North Korean by examining the cases of the socialist system and state-led gentrification and looking at urban development and urban space restructuring in Pyongyang Metropolitan Area in North Korea.Methods: To build up methodological framework of the study, we reviewed previous literature that deals with gentrification in capitalist cities, socialist systems, and state-led planning. About the gentrification phenomenon in North Korea, we examined secondary data of North Korea refugee interviews with North Korea government documents and research papers about Pyongyang's building and real estate development. Then, we compared gentrification in capitalist cities, socialist systems (or state-led planning), and North Korea.Results: Gentrification in capitalist cities, socialist system and North Korea differs in their enabling conditions, gentrifying agents, gentrifiers, and processes. National and local governments, usually with the North Korea communist party, play a leading role as gentrifying agents through their public policy. In the gentrification processes, there is an increasing gap between rich and poor and spatial separation between them, especially when displaced households being pushed out of town in North Korea.Conclusion: Urban development and apartment construction in Pyongyang shows the possibility of developing into existing gentrification, and if the private sector that leads gentrification occurs and at the same time, spatial replacement by privileged or upper classes appears, it will be clear that it is a kind of gentrification under the command economy.

Quantifying state-led gentrification in London: Using linked consumer and administrative records to trace displacement from council estates

Over the past 20 years, increasing land values, a rising population and inward investment from overseas have combined to encourage the demolition and redevelopment of many large council-owned estates across London. While it is now widely speculated that this is causing gentrification and displacement, the extent to which it has forced low-income households to move away from their local community remains to a large degree conjectural and specific to those estates that have undergone special scrutiny. Given the lack of spatially disaggregated migration data that allows us to study patterns of dispersal from individual estates, in this article, we report on an attempt to use consumer-derived data (LCRs) to infer relocations at a high spatial resolution. The evidence presented suggests that around 85% of those displaced remain in London, with most remaining in borough, albeit there is evidence of an increasing number of moves out of London to the South-East and East of England.

Retheorizing state-led gentrification and minority displacement in the Global South-East

Studies on gentrification emphasize the roles of the state and local authorities in promoting a process leading to displacement of lower-income populations, mostly ethnic and racial minorities. Such studies, mostly from the global North, present displacement as an unintentional outcome of class, racial, and ethnic intersection. Thus, the ethno-national and racial mechanisms underlying state-led gentrification are left unarticulated. The current research, studying from the southeastern perspective, challenges this narrative. I argue that in a state of ethnonational conflict, gentrification in contested cities may serve as an institutional tool for achieving territorial control and strengthening demographic dominancy of the majority. Based on in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, this study analyzes the institutional mechanisms that shape gentrification in contested cities, leading to displacement of minorities on an ethnonational and class basis. In doing so, this research outlines the policy drivers, their implications, and the resistance of the minority residents.

Before displacement: studentification, campus-led gentrification and rental market transformation in a multiethnic neighborhood (Parc-Extension, Montréal)

ABSTRACT This article explores a case of campus-led neighborhood change that weaves together an analysis of gentrification, studentification and displacement. Contributing to the understanding of displacement pressure, this empirical study employs a temporal perspective and an innovative mixed method that captures the shifting state of the rental market and the perceptions of neighborhood change as understood by immigrant and low-income residents of Parc-Extension. We analyze how studentification is promoted in a campus-led gentrification case study, showing how both gentrification and studentification participate in the rise of evictions and displacement pressures for long term residents. By documenting the residential experience in rental housing through semi-structured interviews and data mining of rental listings on a popular platform in Canada (Kijiji), we propose an empirical perspective on displacement pressure and contribute to the development of this concept in gentrification and studentification studies. The article begins by reviewing the literature on gentrification-induced displacement, displacement pressure, state-led gentrification and studentification. This is followed by contextualizing our Montréal case study. We then outline our mixed methodologies and explain our data collection by web-scraping and fieldwork modalities. Finally, we discuss our results showing how the mechanism of displacement pressure can be linked with studentification and new-build, campus-led gentrification.

Beneath the appearance of state-led gentrification: The case of the Kwun Tong Town Centre redevelopment in Hong Kong

The global reach of gentrification has been widely debated. Through a case study of the Kwun Tong Town Centre (KTTC) project, this research investigates whether redevelopment led by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) in Hong Kong constitutes a form of state-led gentrification. Against the notion of generic gentrification, we argue that an urban process becomes gentrification only when the conceptual assumptions are consistent with contextual realities. Through a literature review, two core assumptions about state-led gentrification were identified: 1) the redevelopment is capital-led and against the community’s will, and 2) the logic of capital has overridden the logic of the government during the redevelopment. Despite the appearance of state-led gentrification, the KTTC redevelopment was a state-led while socially-oriented process supported by the local community. This project was undertaken to redress environmental deterioration and building obsolesce in a crowded and old urban area. Government-led planning was necessary because the project required government land, proactive planning, and public subsidies. Local support was conditioned on a societal consensus on the policy governing acquisition and compensation. The scheme design reflected a commitment to social goals and community aspiration. The URA endeavoured to address residents’ housing needs by directly engaging residents in the acquisition process. The authority leveraged private-sector capital to take forward redevelopment, but retained control over the project through a plan-led approach and a profit-sharing formula. The negative outcomes of displacement were mitigated by the authority and other contextual factors. The government’s ongoing commitment to public housing limited the chance of area-wide gentrification. Whilst not negating the problem of displacement, this article advocates for a grounded perspective to understand the cause and effect of a gentrification-like process. It further calls for research on similar projects to support the development of generalisable counter-gentrification agendas.

Displacement on the Lancaster West Estate in London before, during, and after the Grenfell fire

This paper draws on ethnographic biographies to reveal the multiple experiences of displacement among three residents on the Lancaster West Estate in London. It is a longitudinal study of before, during, and after the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017. Drawing on in-depth, individual ethnographic biographies, I respond to gentrification scholars’ calls for more qualitative methodological approaches to studying the experiences of the displaced. The temporal lens used adds value in showing that residents were being displaced before the fire and that they have continued to experience displacement even when rehomed. The Grenfell literature tends to focus largely on the causes of the fire but here I consider the lived subjective experiences of displacement, slow violence, unhoming and rehoming, among residents on the Estate. Upholding and preserving these voices is crucial for the Grenfell Inquiry and in resisting state-led gentrification.

Can economic development policy trigger gentrification? Assessing and anatomising the mechanisms of state-led gentrification

This paper aims to bridge universality – as gentrification stands as a global threat to vulnerable communities – and local circumstances and geographies, by investigating structural factors, such as deindustrialisation and land rent gaps, as well as local political economies and socio-spatial structures, which are all common in the Global South. We conducted research in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to investigate whether a neoliberal economic development policy acted as a trigger for gentrification, relying on mixed methods research to analyse evidence of economic restructuring, land rent creation, changes in resident profiles and major urban development trends in the region. Findings indicate evidence of economic restructuring and that the policy triggered higher land values. However, we did not observe evidence of gentrification in the area and attribute this to a still-relevant manufacturing sector, the extensive presence of large informal settlements, the growing numbers of suburban gated communities, the low proportion of renters, and the fact that local elites are moving southwards while the policy took place in the northern peripheries of the metropolis. Federal policies such as minimum wage increases and housing programs partially contradicted neoliberal state policies. This case study offers a lens to investigate gentrification in different latitudes and illustrates how social policies may prevent gentrification processes.

A win-win situation? Urban regeneration and the paradox of homeowner displacement

This paper examines urban regeneration outcomes for homeowners through a mixed-methods analysis of population change in six redevelopment sites. Israel's national urban regeneration policy presents itself as a ‘win-win’ mechanism, claiming that it mitigates displacement. This claim is tested and discussed through the theoretical lens of state-led gentrification and displacement. The Israeli program relies on contractual agreements between private homeowners and developers and provides homeowners with newly built high-rise condominium units. Consequently, homeowners can choose how to capitalize on their new property – whether to inhabit, let or sell. We argue that their choice reflects the preferences and varied capabilities of owners. While homeowners are relatively protected from direct displacement, the variance in owner capabilities may lead to economic pressures that chiefly impact vulnerable low-income owners. We suggest that the Israeli model of sharing the benefits from housing commodification glosses over the capability gap and frames potential displacement pressures as market choice features.

The making and unmaking of Tarlabasi, Istanbul: an account of territorial stigmatisation

Territorial stigmatisation has been drawing attention in the past decade as an important concept in analysing the bad reputation of run-down neighbourhoods and how this bad reputation is used and produced by state agencies. Especially, the links between territorial stigmatisation and urban policies that are followed by state-led gentrification processes have been an emerging discussion in this analysis of understanding the phenomenon of stigmatised places. This paper aims to examine the links and relationships between the concepts of territorial stigmatisation, state-led gentrification and state power in the neighbourhood of Tarlabasi in historic Istanbul. The questions this paper responds to through the analysis of Tarlabasi are: What were the motivations of agencies of power to mobilise stigmatisation of Tarlabasi during urban renewal projects? Why did territorial stigmatisation increase during processes of state-led gentrification? How did the inhabitants of Tarlabasi behave in the face of increased stigma? The paper concludes with reflections on the use of territorial stigmatisation as a tool and accelerator for urban renewal/regeneration/transformation projects as well as its use as a mechanism by which to procure consent from the public.

Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London

In ‘Estate Regeneration and its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London’, Paul Watt’s focus is on ‘comprehensive redevelopment’ regeneration projects. Such regeneration sees estates demolished and then rebuilt as ‘mixed tenure’ communities, with significant numbers of properties being made available via the open market, facilitating the ‘state-led gentrification’ of previously working-class areas (p. 5). London (and most major cities) is experiencing a serious housing crisis, with the diminishing role of public housing being a major contributing factor. Although the working class and where they live have become increasingly devalued over the last forty years, scholars such as McKenzie (2015) argues that council estates and those who live on them should not only be viewed from a deficit perspective (see also Deverteuil, 2016). Moreover, Brown-Saracino (2018) argues that the perseverance of distinctive city cultures plays a key role in shaping the character of their residents and maintaining unique individualities in people. Such arguments would seem to have little impact on the implementation of policies, which, ironically, given the scale of the housing crisis, continues to see London’s public housing being replaced with new mixed-tenure developments as a consequence of regeneration. Against this backdrop, Watt presents narratives which are grounded in resident experiences and perspectives throughout multiple stages of these regeneration processes, enabling the reader to have a more nuanced understanding of how these London estates and their residents have managed very difficult circumstances. The book also contains a very good methodological appendix (pp. 437–52) in which the author expands the discussion of the study design and provides profiles of the research participants.

In the name of “social mixing”: The privatization of public housing to non-governmental organizations

ABSTRACT This paper explores the invocation of “social mixing” to camouflage the reduction of public housing through state-led gentrification processes. I focus on the use of social mixing in Israel to justify the privatization of public housing projects, transferring state assets to not-for-profit organizations. These organizations encourage middle-class families and students to relocate to disadvantaged neighborhoods. Exploring this practice reveals tensions between stakeholders regarding their perceptions of social mixing. Data for this study were drawn from interviews conducted with policymakers, NGO members, and public housing tenants, supplemented by analysis of press articles and policy and NGO documents. Findings highlight use of the social mixing discourse to contextualize benefits accrued via differential access to public housing stock. Such benefits are viewed specifically by long-term tenants as displacement and gentrification. This study further assesses the advantages and disadvantages of this policy, explicating the links between gentrification and social mixing.

State-led gentrification in three Latin American cities

ABSTRACT Many authors agree that gentrification in Latin America depends on the intervention of the state. However, for the renovation of large urban areas that have long lacked public attention, state intervention is a pivotal driver. This comparative analysis involved fieldwork analysis and short ethnographies in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. Results show variations and some common threads, namely land valorization policies, schemes designed to promote the creation of economic opportunities for upper-income investors and developers, the establishment of creative or cultural industrial hubs, investment in new transport and cultural infrastructure, city rebranding, and the use of iconic architecture. Displacement policies have been implemented in Brazil, although with limited success. In Brazil and Mexico, attempts have been made to control social behaviors within particular spaces, often in a racialized manner. We arrive at a narrative that differs from that of the Global North, which considers state-led gentrification to constitute the privatization of social housing under the hegemonic imposition of discourses of “social mixing.” The concept of state and its trajectory differ considerably in each hemisphere.