西方城市绅士化研究自20世纪60年代出现以来,历经近半个世纪,已经形成相对完整的学术流派和理论体系。其中最具代表性的要数NeilSmith从政治经济学角度提出的"地租落差"理论,强调内城区绅士化住宅的供给和生产,以及DavidLey从后工业社会城市转型角度强调绅士化群体的文化需求和住宅消费。不同理论学派在绅士化成因等问题上存在不同的理解与争议,了解西方主流绅士化理论流派,以及探讨绅士化概念与理论演进的脉络、特征和趋向,有助于更好地开展中国城市绅士化研究。

In 1964,Ruth Glass found that many communities inhabited by the working class had been intruded and occupied by the middle class one by one,and that once the middle class began to intrude one community,the process of intrusion would be accelerated until all or the most of the original residents had been replaced and the social characters of the whole area changed consequently. It has been almost half a century since the researches into western city gentrification emerged in the 1960s,which have developed into a relatively complete academic school and theoretical system. And the most representative ones are Neil Smith's "rent gap" theory from the perspective of political economy,stressing on the supply and production of inner city gentrification residences; and David Ley's theory from the perspective of urban transformation in the post-industrial society,emphasizing on cultural needs and consumption on housing of gentrification group. The paper tries to sum up the most representative academic schools of Gentrification since 1970s in western countries and conclude their main points and major academic arguments,hoping to grasp the research progress of the primary research on gentrification,and also hoping to bring useful enlightenment for the research in China. However,the study on Gentrification in western countries has a more important lesson for China that gentrification has been in China for a short time and we should try hard to prevent the social problems and contradictions from China,which have once emerged in western countries,under the background of social transformation and constructing harmonious society,and the problems including social equity,polarization and segregation deserve special attention. As long as we adopt positive and reasonable means,including policy,economy and planning,for the healthy growth of Gentrification,it will undoubtedly become the strong impetus for the new round of urbanization and urban harmonious development during the course of urban transformation.