|
|
|
| THEORETICAL DISPUTES AND ENLIGHTENMENT ON GENTRIFICATION IN WESTERN CITIES |
| SONG Wei-xuan |
| Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China |
|
|
|
|
Abstract 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.
|
|
Received: 23 November 2011
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2013, Vol. 28 
