Gentrification Theory

There have been many attempts to try to explain why gentrification happens; some of the theories are explained by the production-side of it, the consumption-side, and the political-economic side. Gentrification through a production lens explains the process as a consequence of the uneven investment of capital in certain land uses, its devaluation through use and disinvestment, and the opportunities for profitable reinvestment created. They explain gentrification as an economic process that is caused by fluctuating relationships among capital investment and the production of urban space. This theory says that gentrification is based on the relationship between money and production. The restructuring urban spaces aspect of gentrification is …show more content…
This causes inner city land prices to fall, which in turn makes the property owners and landlords neglect their land and makes the land even more devalued, resulting in the rent being much cheaper than it could be if it was fully taken advantage of. The rent gap is the difference between the actual land price of its present use and the potential rent it could get. The rent gap is important when explaining gentrification because when the gap is big, real estate developers or other people with interests in developing the land will see the potential profit that can be made from re-investing in inner city properties and redeveloping them. The development of a rent gap creates urban restructuring and gentrification. Demographic and life-style changes are also causes of gentrification. The fact that there are more women in the workforce and that marriage and family life norms have changed explains …show more content…
The traditional argument is that economic and political factors have led to an invasion of the inner city. The changing political climate of the 1950s and 60s played a role in gentrification of neighborhoods. Since there became less prejudice, more blacks were able to move to the suburbs and whites stopped rejecting the ideal of moving to the inner city. In addition to this, there was a decreasing availability of suburban land and an inflation in suburban housing costs since everyone was moving there, which also led to gentrification in the city. The Marxist approach denies the idea that political and economic influences on gentrification are invisible, but are intentional. They claim that powerful interest groups neglect the inner city until policy changes could bring huge profits. Once the inner city becomes a source of revenue, the powerless people living there are displaced from their