Gentrification and Blight: Relationship to Involuntary Displacement

Rick Rybeck

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2020, vol. 79, issue 2, 541-557

Abstract: Because homelessness is visible in cities with high levels of gentrification, the media have linked the two phenomena. But the displacement taking place in most American cities is due more to blight than to gentrification. This article examines both sources of displacement and traces them to the same source: land speculation. In declining cities, land speculation causes parcels to be held vacant in prime locations, leading to disinvestment and an inadequate supply of affordable commercial and residential buildings. In cities with booming economies, land speculation leads to redevelopment of entire neighborhoods where land appreciates in value due to new commercial or residential demand. The solution to gentrification and blight as sources of displacement is to increase land value return and recycling to stabilize urban economies and avoid the boom‐bust cycles that are so detrimental to cities.

Date: 2020
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