Gay gentrification

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

![CDATA[Gentrification is a contentious dimension of urban renewal. The term describes the process whereby rundown, industrial, marginal, low-income, or working-class neighborhoods are transformed into middle-class, wealthy residential neighborhoods or desirable entertainment or commercial precincts. Economic, demographic, and lifestyle shifts are bound up in the process. Gentrification entails transformations in the material aesthetic of the neighborhood, an increasing share of wealthier residents and commercial premises, rising rent and property prices, and the displacement of longterm residents and businesses unable to afford the increasing costs of local living. It is most commonly associated with changes, which started in the 1960s and are ongoing, in inner-city neighborhoods of large cities in the Global North. While gentrification is a broad urban renewal process, since the early 1980s a diverse range of commentators, planners, scholars, media outlets, and public officials have circumscribed a reputedly distinct gentrification trend associated with gay communities and the formation of “gayborhoods” (i.e., gay neighborhoods). This has been denoted as gay gentrification, and it is controversial within and beyond academia. The relationship between gay gentrification and broader gentrification trends is complex, yet it is often reduced to a simple narrative in mainstream discourse whereby gay men, in particular, are narrowly perceived as pioneers of gentrification and a bellwether of urban regeneration. This logic suggests that when gay men move into a neighborhood, gentrification follows. This notion has become embedded in popular culture across a range of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and is propagated by the discourse of estate agents, lifestyle media, property developers, and scholars who are influential in urban and regional planning (e.g., Richard Florida).]]
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Sage Encyclopaedia of LGBTQ Studies
EditorsAbbie E. Goldberg
Place of PublicationU.S.
PublisherSage
Pages434-435
Number of pages2
ISBN (Electronic)9781483371283
ISBN (Print)9781483371306
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • sexual minorities
  • housing
  • gentrification

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