Many cities in North America and Europe now feature gentrified districts. Some
of the better known are Georgetown in Washington, D.C., and Barnsbury in
London. Those who have been most drawn to such neighborhoods are often
so-called yuppies (young, upwardly mobile professionals), who typically have
the financial means and motivation to purchase housing close to the center of the
city, that also has the potential to be gentrified. In the United Kingdom government
grants have assisted buyers in the process of acquiring housing, while in the
United States gentrification has been fueled by local government incentives and
favorable prices. There are several theories that attempt to explain the motivation
behind gentrification. In the 1980s and 1990s, a so-called back to the city move-
ment arose, which was in response to the negative aspects of suburban living:
sprawl, long commutes to work, the uniformity and conformity of suburban hous-
ing, the expenses of suburban property, and other characteristics. Many who led
the “back to the city” effort were encouraged by municipal urban renewal projects
that combined gentrification strategies with investment in projects that integrated
commercial and residential development. Those providing momentum to the
“back to the city” approach are typically single professionals, married profes-
sionals without children, gay couples, and retirees. Some scholars ascribe an eco-
nomic, rather than cultural or aesthetic rationale to gentrification. This explanation
is often labeled the “rent gap hypothesis.” According to the urban geographer Neil
Smith and other proponents of this theory, the “rent gap” occurs in declining resi-
dential areas when the value of a substandard structure actually is below that of the
vacant property. The difference in values is the “gap,” and this differential is suffi-
cient, according to the hypothesis, to induce outside investment. In the view of
Smith, gentrification then represents not so much a shift in demographic and social
patterns, as a shift of economic capital and investment patterns.
The phenomenon of gentrification cannot be explained by a single theory or a
single factor, however. Chris Hamnett, a British geographer, has identified three fac-
tors that appear to be essential in fostering gentrification. First, potential gentrifiers
must be present in an urban space. Such groups are often a by-product of the local
economic structure: cities that have a large segment of the local economy in high-
paying service and professional jobs typically have many residents who potentially
may engage in gentrification. Second, gentrification requires a sufficient amount
of property that may be gentrified. Such property is more commonly associated
with former working-class neighborhoodsin old industrial cities, meaning that
cities that lack this history may offer little opportunity for gentrification. Phoenix,
Salt Lake City, Dallas, and a few other cities in the western United States have fewer
gentrified neighborhoods than New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia, for
example. Third, a demand for residential property in the inner-city area must exist.
This is a function of the local demographic, cultural, and economic environments.140 Gentrification