Ferreira, Jennifer

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  Book Review: Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement  Ferreira, J   Author post-print (accepted) deposited by Coventry University’s Repository  Original citation & hyperlink:  Ferreira, J 2016, 'Book Review: Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement' Town Planning Review, vol 87, no. 4, pp. 487-492 http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2016.32    DOI 10.3828/tpr.2016.32 ISSN 0041-0020 ESSN 1478-341X  Publisher: Liverpool University Press  Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.   This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.   Global Gentrifications: Uneven development and displacement, Loretta Lees, Hyun Bang Shin and Ernesto López-Morales (eds.) Bristol: Policy Press, 468 pp, £27.99, ISBN: 987-1-4473-1349-8  Global Gentrifications is a compilation of studies which interrogate the notion of gentrification, providing a new foundation for understanding urban transformations across the globe.  The authors point out that most theorisations and conceptualisations of gentrification have been shaped by an Anglo-American view, with limited attempts to take into account experiences outside of these regions. Responding to this issue, the book includes various lenses to view the urban transformations outside of the ‘usual suspects’, discussing how gentrification is framed in particular contexts, drawing from the new literatures on comparative urbanism and policy mobilities.   The book is a compendium of rich empirical illustrations of gentrification, with chapters organised in alphabetical order of the authors, rather than being structured by region, or theme. The editors point out that regional groupings were not the most effective for revealing theoretical and conceptual insights, and that this also avoided indicating any regional or city hierarchies. The editors make no apologies for the varied nature of the chapters – a reflection of the varied career stages, disciplines, educational training and native languages of its authors. It would be impossible in a review of this length to do justice to the range of rich empirical case studies and contributions included; but while it is unusual for a review to make reference to each chapter in turn for an edited volume, I do so to illustrate the diversity of material discussed in this book.   In Chapter two insights from Athens at the micro-scale, show how gentrification takes a specific spatial form; a reflection the Athenian socio-economic context where gentrification is ‘punctuated’ and ‘scattered’ in space. In chapter three the case of slum gentrification in Lisbon explores displacement and resistance. Insights from Abu Dhabi in chapter four reveal the impact of policies causing gentrification in the city centre. Favela gentrifications in Rio de Janeiro are discussed in chapter five, comparing the discourses of favela residents and newcomers, and the influence of state-led urban restructuring. Moving to India in chapter six, analysis of the factors affecting unequal urban transformation, and the distinct processes of development in Indian cities are discussed. Chapter seven explores how Cairo’s gentrification has involved a proliferation of gated developments, and how the particular conditions of the city do not encourage conventional processes of gentrification.   Chapter eight focuses the various forms of gentrification in Israel, and how its geographical spread does not necessarily follow the same pattern as in Anglo-American cities, taking place across metropolitan regions. Urban renewal programmes in Seoul are the focus of chapter nine, analysing the impact of aggressive residential renewal programmes, as well as anti-gentrification activities. Chapter ten considers gentrification in Pakistan, and how it is linked to city networks and the  influence of civil society resistance. In Chapter eleven, a study of gentrification processes in Buenos Aires explores how in some Latin American cities gentrification has become widespread and integrated into wider urban transformations. Chapter twelve provides an examination of the state-led privatisation of public land in Taipei, and how this is creating new forms of social inequality. Chapter thirteen then examines local political contexts of gentrification in Istanbul, comparing two neighbourhoods from different municipalities showing how even within the same city processes of gentrification can have different outcomes. Chapter fourteen considers issues of culture and ethnicity for gentrification in Puebla, Mexico.  In chapter fifteen two cases in Beirut are used to explore ways in which gentrification manifests in different ways in the same city, and why historical and political-economic specificities matter. Moving on to cases of gentrification in Lagos in Chapter sixteen, analysis of  slum gentrification and transformation of government owned housing contribute to an exploration of the impact of gentrification and the displacement of residents. In Chapter seventeen Chinese gentrification processes are assessed, debating if it is even an appropriate term to describe the changes taking place in Chinese cities.   Chapter eighteen returns to Latin America with a review of the literature on gentrification in the region, presenting it as an ongoing process, a product of an opportunistic exploitation by private developers. Chapter nineteen compares two neighbourhoods in Madrid considering the impact of the economic crisis on gentrification. Chapter twenty explores the relationship between Syrian regimes, economies, consumer preferences and gentrification, arguing the state has been trying to exploit gentrification in order to secure power at the local level. The last empirical case in Chapter twenty one explores the notion of gentrification in South Africa, arguing that the conditions related to gentrification differ to Global North due to different histories and socio-spatial processes.   Chapter twenty two then reflects on the lessons learnt from these empirical accounts to begin to elicit a discussion of comparative urbanism that takes a broader view of gentrification. This is followed by an afterword which posing questions about how can researchers can examine gentrification in such different places? Questions are raised throughout the book, about how we can understand the dimensions of gentrification; the different types of gentrification; forms of resistance, factors that impede gentrification, the impact of wider economic patterns, the broader impacts of gentrification and more. These chapters not only illuminate the particular experiences of gentrification but explicitly raise further questions about how we understand the concept, the influence of post-colonialism, the influence of the state, the spatial distribution of the process, displacement of populations, the facets of society affected by the process beyond housing, and much more.   The editors explain how this work has laid the foundations to begin to consider the diverse forms of gentrification around the globe, and construct a form of comparative urbanism that is decentred from the Global North. This book this will appeal to a broad audience, both students and more advanced urban scholars interested in contemporary urban debates, as well as those outside of academia from policy makers, planners to community organisations. Bringing together research from numerous continents to show the growing significance of urban planning and policies in order to address growing inequality in many urban areas, this book provides a deep, case-oriented, empirical lens to view the processes of gentrification. The book prompts the reader to question what the central processes of gentrification are, and, as the authors note, what is needed now is a continued discussion, which examines a new line of analysis of urban change, one which is not centred on experiences of the Global North, and one which planners should be involved in at every level.    Jennifer Ferreira  Coventry University    

Review of Global Gentrifications:Uneven Development and Displacement

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Book Review: Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement

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