Sociology of Gentrification

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Why are rents up? Where are all the people who used to live in this neighborhood? Why was your favorite coffee shop replaced by a bank? What exactly is a hipster? These are all questions swirling around the topic of gentrification. Ruth Glass coined the term “gentrification” in 1964 to describe changes she was seeing in London, in particular the fact that “one by one, many of the working class quarters of London have been invaded by the middle classes.” A physical and social transformation of urban neighborhoods, gentrification might have gotten its name in the 1960s, but it has its roots in social processes that run from the early twentieth century through today. In this class, we will explore the causes and consequences of gentrification, with a focus on the United States. In addition to thinking about what gentrification is, we will think about how urban theorists have conceived of gentrification, and how these conceptions shape debates on the contentious topic.