From gentrification to re-urbanization : the expanding terrain of socio-spatial inequality

Abstract

This paper examines a confluence of factors and consequence linked to changing socio-economic and spatial arrangements in the post-industrial globalized city. Neo-liberal urban governance and the influence of evolved capitalist economic and cultural structures have altered the demographic landscape of many cities. Urban neighbourhoods are increasingly exclusive to the middle and upper classes, as state support for low-income populations wanes in favour of revenue growth and a fixation on image. Gentrification has expanded geographically, and is often promoted by policy with little regard for gradual but substantial displacement of the poor. These patterns are epitomized in large 'world cities' such as New York, London, and Toronto that are the financial and cultural centresof their region; the conditions are mergent in a growing number of cities worldwide. If government are to prevent standardization of these processes and commit to measures for social sustainability, they must first demonstrate greater capacity for intervention in market-based inequalities.