Brian Doucet

'We're a rich city with poor people': municipal strategies of new-build gentrification in Rotterdam and Glasgow

Gentrification—the creation of affluent space—has evolved from a sporadic and spontaneous process focusing on individual households into a municipal goal in and of itself, either in existing neighbourhoods, or in new-build developments. This is increasingly being done through flagship new-build gentrification projects. This paper examines why and how this strategy has been implemented in Rotterdam and Glasgow through a study of two projects: the Kop van Zuid and Glasgow Harbour. By using a comparative approach, it sheds further light on reasons for pursuing this municipal goal, and examines how large new-build flagship gentrification is used to help realise these aims. It reveals a discourse in which the rationale of this policy is linked to the attraction and retention of affluent households, a lack of which, it is believed by policy makers, hurts urban competitiveness. It shows that this discourse is present and influences these two projects despite the different compositions of actors involved (the municipally led Kop van Zuid and the developer-led Glasgow Harbour). However, the ways in which this goal is implemented vary according to the local contexts and the different roles ascribed to the various stakeholders.

Experiencing Dublin's Docklands: perceptions of employment and amenity changes in the Sheriff Street community

Abstract Flagship projects and gentrification have a profound impact on the neighbourhoods which surround them. At present, most studies focus on their housing implications. We seek to engage in a broader understanding of their effects by examining the ways in which residents of a low-income neighbourhood adjacent to a new waterfront development perceive and experience changes in employment opportunities and local amenities which have arisen because of this project. We will examine the discourses of long-term residents (those residing for more than 25 years) of the Sheriff Street neighbourhood – one of the citys most deprived – towards the new Dublin Docklands and its International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). This type of engagement with non-gentrifying groups is currently lacking from academic research and consequently limits our full understanding of the impact of these spaces. What we have found is a complex and nuanced picture, where residents are both optimistic and disappointed by the impact ...

Ulduz Maschaykh: The changing image of affordable housing: design, gentrification and community in Canada and Europe: Ashgate, 2015, ISBN: 978-1-4724-3779-2

This book takes an architectural perspective towards understanding the challenge of housing affordability in cities. It is primarily focused on British Columbia, Canada, with a few brief case studies in Europe. The author’s main argument is that: ‘[A]rchitecture can play a pivotal role in diminishing social imbalances and giving people from a broader range of backgrounds a sense of identity and belonging. In this regards, buildings can influence wider social and political changes’ (p. 9). Chapter one provides a thorough review of the main literature on gentrification. Maschaykh describes four theories in good detail: Smith’s rent-gap, Florida’s creative class, David Ley’s middle-class aesthetic and the trend towards mixed-income communities. One of the best parts of this book is when she provides cultural references from television, books and movies to illustrate each theory. What is missing, however, is an analysis or interpretation of the relationship between gentrification and the lack of affordable housing. The author’s position on gentrification is never fully articulated and chapter one reviews, rather than frames the author’s position in the literature. She writes of gentrification: ‘[W]hen a city’s value increases and draws wealthy residents and investors into rundown neighbourhoods, these enclaves experience a process of revitalization that is known as ‘gentrification.’ Architecture plays an important part in the gentrification process. This is most evident in buildings that stand out from the rest because of their history’ (p. 2). Exactly what role architecture plays is not clear. Does it stimulate or reduce gentrification and if so, how? Is this good for cities; if so why? To make a strong contribution to the gentrification debate, such questions needed further analysis and elaboration. Empirically, the book deals with some insightful case studies. Part one focuses on Europe, with chapter two examining early twentieth Century affordable housing in Vienna and Germany. Examples such as Vienna’s Karl-Marx-Hof are described in detail. In chapter three, the focus shifts towards contemporary ‘super-gentrification’ in Berlin.

Building an urban ‘renaissance’: fragmented services and the production of inequality in Greater Downtown Detroit

Downtown Detroit has been undergoing a renaissance in recent years which is in stark contrast to the economic and social situation in much of the rest of the city. This renaissance has been taking place despite the city’s ability to provide good municipal services such as streetlights, security, public space and transport. This article focuses on how four areas which constitute part of Greater Downtown Detroit have relied on different combinations of actors to create and provide the services and amenities deemed necessary for capital investment and middle-class consumption. Each area has its own initiatives and actors who implement them, further fragmenting the city between its core and periphery. Renewed public spaces, private police forces and resident initiatives in middle-class neighborhoods have been created to serve specific needs of the small areas they serve. Rather than being unique, Detroit is an extreme example of fragmented and polarized urbanism which is part and parcel of contemporary cities. We argue that rather than passively reflecting existing socio-spatial divides, these private initiatives in Greater Downtown Detroit actively contribute to the production of sociospatial inequalities across the city.