Gentrification and the suburbanization of poverty: changing urban geographies through boom and bust periods

Many postindustrial cities across Europe and other contexts are marked by growing social–spatial inequalities, housing liberalization, and gentrification, which limit the housing options of low-income households. We investigated changes in the residential moves of different low-income households (working poor, low-to-middle income, and unemployed) in the Amsterdam and Rotterdam urban regions for the time period 2004–2013. We found an overarching trend for the suburbanization of poverty toward the urban peripheries and surrounding regions. While this trend appears to be relatively crisis resistant in the tight Amsterdam housing context, it is more cyclical in Rotterdam and has slowed following the global financial crisis. Low-to-middle income and unemployed households are increasingly moving to the urban regions surrounding cities, particularly to higher density satellite towns. Nevertheless, a growing number of working poor households remain highly urbanized, employing various coping strategies to acquire housing. This paper reveals how the suburbanization of poverty is both a direct process of poor households moving from city to suburb, and a broader indirect process caused by exclusionary mechanisms such as the decreasing accessibility and affordability of inner-urban neighborhoods, which reflect broader changes in the geography and socioeconomic patterning of urban regions

Geographical structure of the local segregation of migrants in (sub)urban China

Unprecedented urbanisation in China has profoundly reshaped the country’s social-spatial structure. Owing to economic suburbanisation and urban redevelopment processes, migrants coming from rural areas are increasingly concentrated in suburbs rather than city centres. Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on residential segregation between migrants and locals, and on geographical (re)structuring between the city centre and suburb. Theil’s H Index is used to disaggregate the migrant segregation of each municipality into a within-suburb, a within-centre and a between-centre-suburb component. We use Census data for 258 municipalities in 2000 and 2010; we find that migrant segregation increased in this period. We ascribe this to the increasing segregation of migrants in suburban areas, which offsets the increasingly balanced distribution of migrants between the city centre and suburb. Segregation in city centres also increased slightly in this period. Unexpectedly, less economically developed municipalities, defined by their per capita GDP, tend to be more segregated than their more developed counterparts. Less developed municipalities also have a higher level of suburban employment and housing opportunities in the whole municipality, but feature more segregated suburban spaces and a polarised distribution of migrants between the centre and suburb

Understanding Knowledge and creativity-based development in well-established cities and urban regions

Developing creative and knowledge-intensive economic activities is an objective for many well-established cities and urban regions. We aim to enhance the understanding of that process by focusing on the institutional and local/regional contexts in which the activities take place. We offer a 'thick description' showing the role played by deep structural and contemporary contexts in the growth of these activities. The regions of Madrid and Amsterdam have been selected to illustrate our ideas and method. They appear equally well-established, are well-embedded in the global economy and are both strong economic centres. However, they are also well-positioned to demonstrate that specific contexts have influenced their development. In particular, Madrid's political and economic ruptures seem decisive in its development, while in Amsterdam it is self-reinforcing paths that appear crucial. We suggest developing tailored context-sensitive urban policies. These will be effective, but will also reduce the risk of losing local characteristics that may offer a unique competitive advantage.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación / AEI / FEDERDepto. de GeografíaFac. de Geografía e HistoriaTRUEpu

Gentrifying with family wealth:Parental gifts and neighbourhood sorting among young adult owner-occupants

This paper assesses the role of parental gifts in neighbourhood sorting among young adult homebuyers. We make use of high-quality individual-level registry data for two large urban metropolitan areas in the Netherlands. While previous studies have shown that young adults receiving gifts purchase more expensive housing, little is known about the role of gifts in where young adults buy. Our study finds that parental gifts flow into the housing market in a spatially-uneven way. Movers supported by substantial parental gifts are more likely to enter owner-occupied housing in high-status and gentrifying urban neighbourhoods compared to movers without gifts. This study shows that this can only partially be explained by household and parental characteristics and by the uneven distribution of housing values. The remaining effect suggests that parental gifts also play a role in trade-offs regarding spatial residential decision-making. The conclusion discusses the ramifications of our findings for debates on (re)production of class and intra-generational inequalities through housing, and provides avenues for further research