“Qualifying Peripheries” or “Repolarizing the Center”: A Comparison of Gentrification Processes in Europe

Samaneh Sadat Nickayin, Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir, Matteo Clemente, Francesco Maria Chelli, Luca Salvati, Federico Benassi and Antonio Gimenez Morera
Additional contact information
Samaneh Sadat Nickayin: Landscape Architecture Department, Agricultural University of Iceland, Hvanneyri, 311 Borgarbyggð, Iceland
Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir: Department of Overland Communication Ways, Foundation and Cadastral Survey, Politehnica University of Timisoara, 1A I. Curea Street, 300224 Timisoara, Romania
Matteo Clemente: Department of Architecture and Project, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazza Borghese 9, I-00186 Rome, Italy
Francesco Maria Chelli: Department of Economic Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Piazza Martelli 8, I-60121 Ancona, Italy
Luca Salvati: Department of Economics and Law, University of Macerata, Via Armaroli 43, I-62100 Macerata, Italy
Federico Benassi: Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), Piazza G. Marconi 24, I-00144 Rome, Italy
Antonio Gimenez Morera: Departamento de Economia y Ciencias Sociales, Universitat Politècnica de València, Cami de Vera S/N, ES-46022 València, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-14

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.

Keywords: urban sustainability; mobility; policy; advanced economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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