gentrification

New research suggests that the benefits of gentrification may be more widespread, and the harms less common, than usually supposed

ECONOMIST.COM

Can gentrification be a force for positive social change?

仕紳化（英語：gentrification）或士紳化、紳士化，又譯為中產階層化、貴族化或縉紳化，是都市發展的其中一個可能現象，指一個舊社區從原本聚集低收入人士，到重建後地價及租金上升，引致較高收入人士遷入，並取代原有低收入者。仕紳化的轉變過程可能因著重建速度而需時多年，但引申的結果是本區生活指數提高，原居住的低收入者最後可能反被新遷入的高收入者歧視，或引致原居住的低收入者不得不遷離往更偏遠或條件更差的地區維持生活^[1][2][3]。該地區吸引了第一批高收入者遷入後，就轉而成為吸引其他同階層人士遷入聚居的引力，使仕紳化過程越加快速。




Gentrification is a process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses.^[1] This is a common and controversial topic in politics and in urban planning. Gentrification often increases the economic value of a neighborhood, but can force out low-income residents due to the increased cost of rent and higher cost of goods.

...Although the term was already used in English in the 1950s – for instance by Sidney Perutz^[8] and in Warren's Weed^[9] – British sociologist Ruth Glass was first to use "gentrification" in its current sense. She used it 1964 to describe the influx of middle-classpeople displacing lower-class worker residents in urban neighborhoods; her example was London, and its working-class districts such as Islington:^[10]

One by one, many of the working class neighbourhoods of London have been invaded by the middle-classes—upper and lower. Shabby, modest mews and cottages—two rooms up and two down—have been taken over, when their leases have expired, and have become elegant, expensive residences ... Once this process of 'gentrification' starts in a district it goes on rapidly, until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Health Effects of Gentrification defines the real estate concept of gentrification as "the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value. This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses ... when long-time or original neighborhood residents move from a gentrified area because of higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes. Gentrification is a housing, economic, and health issue that affects a community's history and culture and reduces social capital. It often shifts a neighborhood's characteristics, e.g., racial-ethnic composition and household income, by adding new stores and resources in previously run-down neighborhoods."^[2]