There is a considerable academic literature on how gentrification affects low-income residents in gentrifying neighbourhoods (Atkinson 2002; Bailey and Robertson 1997; Lyons 1996; Marcuse 1986; Robinson 1995; Vigdor 2002). Atkinson (2002) has provided a thorough review of the empirical literature. He found that the overwhelming majority of studies pointed to a negative impact, citing displacement, community conflict, loss of affordable housing and homelessness as the major such outcomes. Fewer studies focus on the positive side of gentrification; the main areas of research examined in these include the renewal of the physical fabric of communities, local service improvements and poverty deconcentration. The remainder of this section will examine the potential impact of gentrification on local residents with regard to the three key issues featured in this paper: housing, amenities and services, and social interactions.
Housing and displacement
Displacement is a major theme related to housing and gentrification. Marcuse (1986) outlined four ways by which lower-income populations could be removed from their homes: (1) direct, when a resident is forced out of a home; (2) exclusionary, occurring when higher prices have made it prohibitive to move into a neighbourhood; (3) chain, when successive chains of households move out of the same unit as it becomes upgraded beyond their reach; and (4) displacement pressure, when the threat of displacement looms over the heads of residents as they witness their former neighbours moving away.
Many lower-income residents express negative sentiments towards the gentrification process because of their fear of displacement (Atkinson 2000b). In his study of central London, Atkinson noted that many lower-income residents saw rental increases as being inevitable, and they often exhibited a fatalistic view about being displaced. Even when displacement is not widespread, the fear of being displaced, Marcuse’s displacement pressure, can cast a spectre in the minds of many lower-income residents, who hear of stories of friends, neighbours or people like them, who have been displaced (Freeman 2006). In other words, a person need not be physically displaced in order to feel negatively towards it; the possibility of being displaced, as evident by witnessing friends and neighbours leaving, as well as constant media reports, can be enough to sour one’s attitudes to the process.
On the other hand, some literature suggests that lower-income or local residents can benefit from gentrification in their neighbourhood. If such residents are homeowners, they can stand to benefit financially from seeing their properties increase in value significantly as their neighbourhood goes upmarket (see Bridge 1994; Freeman 2006; Newman and Wyly 2006). This is, of course, a very contentious issue; rising house prices may benefit those owning property, but will further exacerbate the differences between rich and poor and make it more difficult for residents to gain a foothold on the property ladder.
Some residents, in fact, will be protected from displacement pressures due to their housing tenure (Freeman and Braconi 2004). For example, living in public housing can help keep low-income residents in gentrifying neighbourhoods because they are protected from rising house prices and displacement.
Displacement is less of a direct issue in new-build, or post-recession gentrification. Many authors (Davidson and Lees 2005; Smith 1996), however, argue that developments such as high-end projects, situated along waterfronts or old industrial land, represent gentrification because of the ensuing upward class transformation, even though there is no direct displacement of a local population. This has been noted by some scholars as being part of a government strategy to bring affluent residents into deprived older neighbourhoods. But displacement can still occur if the new-build projects serve as a catalyst for gentrifying the adjacent, older neighbourhoods (Davidson and Lees 2005). This type of gentrification will play a prominent role in the case study featured later in this research.
The aim in this paper is not to argue whether or not gentrification is inherently good or bad, but rather to illustrate that by placing the debate into a context of sharply divided ‘winners’ and ‘losers’, we ignore some of the complexities and nuances of the process. As Bridge (1994, p. 32) has noted: “although displacement is an iniquitous outcome of gentrification… not all of those displaced are working class and not all working class are displaced”. In this sense, the process is more complex than would initially appear; some residents may be able to benefit from their neighbourhood gentrifying, while many others clearly will not.
Services and amenities
Gentrification has the power to bring about a distinct change to the character of a neighbourhood, turning it from a decaying, run-down working-class area, to a trendy, prosperous middle-class neighbourhood in a very short time (Griffiths 1996). This means that not only housing, but also shops, services and amenities can change their character and clientele very rapidly and profoundly.
Again, there are two dominant viewpoints as to how changing retail and amenity structures impact the local community. On the one hand, gentrification is seen as having a negative impact on the local poor population. The new services, shops and amenities are built for a newer, high-income clientele who is moving into the neighbourhood. This can lead to greater polarisation within the community, as the new shops and amenities are beyond the means of many of the residents. Spatially, the process can give rise to two separate retail districts within the same neighbourhood: one middle-class, gentrified area, and one for the neighbourhood’s low-income population (Butler 2003). As the gentrified population grows, the lower-income retail stores either get pushed further away, or disappear entirely.
This then leads to negative perceptions among residents. This spatial and psychological division can also lead to a sense of separation from the boom existing in their community, and a perception among lower-income local residents that new shops and services catering to wealthy gentrifiers were not for them, and not part of their community (Atkinson 2000b). In some cases, this can lead to a sense of resentment towards the new residents of the community. Atkinson (2000b), for example, highlighted a group called the Roughlers, a group of ‘yuppie-haters’ that gathered in pubs in Kensington, West London. However, they had to keep meeting in new places as their former pubs went upmarket in the face of the gentrification wave.
The other argument sees the gentrification of retail areas as being inclusive, and benefiting all local residents, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Freeman (2006) and Freeman and Braconi (2004) argue that the new stores that open as a result of gentrification can come to be appreciated by lower-income residents. In some poor neighbourhoods, access to basic shops and services can be quite limited. Part of this builds on Wrigley’s (2002) argument that many low-income areas are so-called ‘food deserts’. In such neighbourhoods, inhabitants have access to fewer healthy, or fresh food options than their counterparts in more affluent areas. If gentrification brings these basic amenities into neighbourhoods, this can be seen as a benefit to all residents. In addition to food stores, Freeman (2006) argues that many poor areas, particularly in US cities, lack basic retail facilities, such as drug stores, or video rental shops; if these areas were to gentrify, the arrival of such services could bring more retail opportunities to the neighbourhood. In addition, these new stores can bring about new job opportunities for residents within the neighbourhood (Vigdor 2002).
However, a critique of this argument, as Freeman notes himself, is that the these empirical studies must be placed in context. Freeman examined two acutely deprived neighbourhoods in New York City, which have now been undergoing a process of gentrification (with the associated change in retail services). That level of deprivation and disinvestment has not been the case in every neighbourhood now undergoing gentrification, and his two neighbourhoods experienced far greater levels of dislocation from mainstream circuits of capital and investment than the case presented in this paper. Another counterpoint to the argument of better amenities is that the new stores and services that arrive when a neighbourhood gentrifies can be beyond the financial means or cater to different tastes and preferences than those of any low-income residents who are able to resist displacement pressures. So while the new amenities may bring a new character to the area, this can lead to resentment if some residents feel they are not for them.
Social cohesion and interactions
Kearns and Forrest (2000) outline five elements of social cohesion, three of which—social networks, values and norms, and place attachment—have relevance at the neighbourhood level (Dekker and Bolt 2005). While the literature on housing and services supports both positive and negative impacts of gentrification, most studies relating to interactions between gentrifiers and local residents point towards negative and divisive impacts.
Many working-class communities have a strong sense of social cohesion and can be associated with strong, local, social networks (Atkinson and Kintrea 2000). However, when gentrification occurs, these ties can be weakened. As a consequence, those who survive displacement pressures and are able to remain in their community may be at a loss because much of the community that built these networks will have been displaced (Newman and Wyly 2006). The original character of the neighbourhood, as determined by demographic composition, amenities, commercial establishments and local institutions could also be lost as gentrification progresses (Vigdor 2002).
This change in social networks can also have an influence on differing, and potentially conflicting, values and norms. One outcome noted has been the emergence of strong feelings of resentment on the part of many local residents (Atkinson 2000b; Butler 2003; Freeman 2006). This can be caused not only by the changes in housing and services that come about in the wake of gentrification, but also by differing values between the groups (Freeman 2006). Freeman, for example, cited differences over what is considered to be ‘acceptable’ behaviour and activities, such as barbeques in the park or drinking a beer in front of one’s house. Such activities may have been normal and accepted by the lower-income community, but have now become offensive to the new gentrifiers, who may not be used to, or prone to, such behaviours. This can cause tensions between the gentrifiers and the local population.
Finally, place attachment can be altered in a gentrifying neighbourhood, as different groups have different ideas over the future, or the identity of the community (Freeman 2006; Spain 1993). Spain’s (1993) work in Philadelphia showed that conflicts arose between local residents and gentrifiers over the idea of what the neighbourhood should feel like. The local residents felt that they had created the neighbourhood character that was attracting affluent residents, yet they now felt their community was becoming a playground for the rich. In addition to these individual responses, many studies highlight local community organisations that respond to gentrification, with their aim to stem or divert the process away from their neighbourhood (Robinson 1995; Smith 2002; Wilson et al. 2004).
The existing literature suggests a negative impact for local residents witnessing gentrification in their neighbourhood. Indeed, there is little evidence to suggest that gentrification leads to a greater sense of cohesion in neighbourhoods. It is seen by many scholars to be a divisive and disruptive process for local communities. Evidence related to housing and services, on the other hand, is more mixed; while the majority points to negative impacts for these groups, there are some studies that suggest that positive outcomes for lower-income groups are possible. This paper will now turn to what the residents themselves actually think about this process in an attempt to provide some empirical evidence for these ideas.