D r a wi n g a s a n e t hi co-p olitic al p r a c tic e. G e o h u m a ni ti e s 7 (2) , p p. 4 4 1-4 5 4.

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This book examines the relationship between aesthetics and gentrifi cation in contemporary cities from multiple, comparative, global, and transnational perspectives. In the introductory chapter, we argue that the aesthetics of gentrification produce sites of spectacular excess where the political economic forces driving urban redevelopment are empowered to remake space according to the needs of global capital. Through an analysis of the development of London's Greenwich Peninsula, we sug gest that these forms of neoliberal, consumeroriented aesthetics create seductive spaces and instil the desires needed to accelerate exclusionary urban transformations. The introductory chapter also considers the ways in which the aesthetics of gentrification now constitute a globalized, transnational phenomenon involving struggles for power in neoliberal urban contexts. We conclude that aesthetics increasingly function as a battleground where these urban spatial power struggles are played out through displacement, exclusion, and division.

What does a political conceptualisation of the relationship between urban development and heritage involve? Against the widespread idea that there is a conflict between densification and the protection of historic buildings and sites in the City of London, I show that a conservative heritage discourse promotes the construction of speculative towers. Arguing against a City that is privately owned, selfcompeting and socially homogeneous, I develop a democratic understanding of history that contests an essentialist reading of the city and challenges the idea that speculative developments direct attention to and visually enhance historic landmarks. Aligning historical analysis with political critique, I draw on the work of Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault and discuss notions of 'historical events' and 'cultural treasures' in order to think against the prevailing speculative logic in the city.

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted following peer review for publication in Urban Geography.