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Hamnett, (1991) Blind Men and The Elephant
Hamnett, (1991) Blind Men and The Elephant
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173
Senior Lecturer in Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall,
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
ABSTRACT
This paper critically reviews the major theories of gentrification which have emerged over the last 10 year
which has surrounded them. It argues that the reason why the gentrification debate has attracted so much
been so hard fought, is that it is one of key theoretical battlegrounds of contemporary human geography
the arguments between structure and agency, production and consumption, capital and culture, and sup
also argues that each of the two major explanations which have been advanced to account for gentrific
and the production of gentrifiers) are partial explanations, each of which is necessary but not sufficient. Fin
an integrated explanation for gentrification must involve both explanation of the production of devalued a
and the production of gentrifiers and their specific consumption and reproduction patterns.
Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr. N.S. 16: 173-189 (1991) ISSN: 0020-2754 Printed in Great Britain
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174 CHRIS HAMNETT
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The blind men and the elephant 175
.... To a large extent, Marxist approaches to
argue that the rolegentrifi-
of the state is important for an
cation have defined their objectives self-consciously
understanding in
of gentrification in certain areas, there
opposition to positivist approaches.is..considerable
A crucial debateelement
over the relative importance to
in the Marxist approach, in contrast, to positivist
be given to individual actors and their motivations
approaches, is that it sees that gentrification is ... not
and to the structural
reductible to the behaviour of individuals (Rose, role of the state. In some respects
1984,
therefore, the debate over the role of the state in
pp. 49-50).
gentrification reflects and embodies the wider gentri-
fication debate between the proponents of structure
It is this aspect of gentrification, that of intellectual and agency (Gregory, 1981).
battleground between competing and radically The paper is divided into nine sections. The first
opposed theoretical perspectives, that I intend to section defines gentrification and outlines the criteria
focus on in this article. Although several alternative for explanation. The second and third sections out-
explanatory emphases have been identified (Hamnett, line and assess Ley's approach. The fourth and fifth
1984; Ley, 1986; Smith, 1986), notably those of sections outline and assess Smith's initial 'rent gap'
changes in demography, life-style and urban amenity; thesis. The sixth section stresses the importance of
land and housing market dynamics and in urban econ- the 'production of gentrifiers' and their locational
omic activity and employment structures, in essence preferences, the seventh section examines Smith's
they collapse into two main competing sets of reformulations and his attempt to incorporate con-
explanations. The first, primarily associated with the sumption into his theoretical framework, and the
work of Smith has stressed the production of urban eighth outlines the elements of an integrated theory.
space, the operation of the housing and land market, The final section summarizes and concludes the
the role of capital and collective social actors such as argument.
developers and mortgage finance institutions on the
supply of gentrifiable property. The second, which
Smith has termed the consumption side argument, GENTRIFICATION: A DEFINITION AND
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176 CHRIS HAMNETT
this combination of
the new social,
liberalism physical
was to be recognised less by its p
change that distinguishes
duction schedulesgentrification
than by its consumption styles (La
process/set of processes.
1980, p. 239).
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The blind men and the elephant 177
lifestyle is ... consumption and status orientated
local housing in
market, quickening the tr
pursuit of self-actualization '(Ley, 1980, pp. 242-3).
cess and fuelling inflationary land val
speculation and by increasing the exp
Ley's reference to 'a class in emergence' is import-
homeowners to receive windfall pric
ant, and he noted that as the post-industrial thesis
homes' (Ley, was p. 138, emphases add
1981,
developed by sociologists it was The
not causal
locationally
primacy is quite clear. Ley se
specific. But he argued that 'these traits
activity as are not
stimulated by the market p
uniformly distributed; there is agrowing
geography of collar
white the labour force, which
post-industrial society ... it might
of fit circumstances
changes in economic and employmen
more closely in San Francisco or He London than in
has reiterated this view in a more
Cleveland or Glasgow' (Ley, 1980,paper.
pp. 242-3).
As he This is
put it:
a key point which has an important bearing on the
question of where gentrification job is found
growthand Leywhite-collar complex o
(in) the
proceeded to apply the thesis to Vancouver, looking
head offices, producer services, and indirectl
at changes in industrial, occupational and demo-
institutions and agencies in... nodal centr
graphic structures and in the lifestyles and inner city
the 'production' of professionals, manage
housing market which had occurred. Ley did
quaternary not
employees working downtow
provide
explicitly refer to the term gentrification the demand
in this paper, base for housing re-in
the inner
but in 1981 he made a clear link between thecity ... this population, as it give
growth
economic expression
of the tertiary and quaternary sectors, the growth of to its own predelict
amenity, will restructure the built envir
professional and managerial occupations, changes in
accelerate the gentrification process (Ley, 1
the structure of housing demand in Vancouver and
gentrification. As he put it:
AN ASSESSMENT OF LEY'S THEORY OF
it is possible to follow the transmission of large scale
POST-INDUSTRIAL URBANISM
adjustments in the economy to the pattern of job creation
in Vancouver, with trends favouring white collar job
There is much in Ley's thesis that Marxist analys
growth in the central business district. These contextual
would strongly
factors lie behind the demographic changes challenge,
in the metro- not least the politic
emphasis
politan area and the housing demand he accords
pressures whichto a new elite of tastemake
and
accompanied them (Ley, 1981, p. 128 opinion formers,
emphases added). the importance of culture a
consumption, his acceptance of the idea of po
industrialism
But these housing demand pressures (Walker and Greenberg, 1982), and
are locationally
specific. Discussing the growingseeming
number relegation of the production of the bu
of small,
environment
young, high income households and and nineteenth-century
their impact on notions
the inner city housing market, Leylabour andthat
argued capital to a secondary role in urban affa
cultural
factors are important: 'The neighbourhoods
But Ley was not them-
advocating an autonomous theory
consumption-determined
selves include a measure of life-style, ethnic and archi- urban development a
tectural diversity, valued attributes of or
change, middle-class
a straightforward consumer prefere
movers to the central city ... these desiderata
theory of the as some of his critics ha
of gentrification
culture of consumption should notargued, and nor does his work rest just on Bell's c
be under-estimated
in interpreting the revitalizationcept
of of
the
theinner city'
post-industrial city. On the contrary, t
(Ley, 1981, p. 128). importance he accords to culture and consumption
the post-industrial
Ley had less to say on the structure and operation city are clearly rooted in t
of urban land and housing market deeper
and thechanges
supplyin the
andstructure of production, t
changing
production of gentrifiable properties and division
areas and,of labour, and the rise o
where he does, it is more focused on theconcentrated
locationally demand service class.
aspects of the equation. Ley noted the role
While Leyof the that
argues real this class played a key role
estate industry, but he accorded it a and
politics secondary
culture, heor
also identified it as a product
reinforcing role in the gentrificationthe changes Referring
process. in the division of labour and the spatia
uneven
to the revitalization of the inner city areanature of these changes. He thus link
of Kitsilano,
he states that: 'There is little doubttogether
that thechanges
activityin ofthe organization of pr
the real estate industry added to the instability
duction of the politics and culture, into
and the economy,
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178 CHRIS HAMNETT
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The blind men and the elephant 179
investment and disinvestment in the built
tal, environ-
eventually produces the rent gap. W
grows
ment, and focuses on the relationship sufficiently
between landlarge, rehabilitation (or fo
renewal) can begin to challenge the rates of
and property value, particularly on the way in which
able elsewhere and capital flows back' (S
disinvestment produces the possibility of capital re-
p. 546).
investment. Smith argues that in the nineteenth cen-
tury, most cities had a classical land value
Hence, the subtitle gradient,
of Smith's paper: 'A back to the
highest at the centre and falling gradually
city movement towards
by capital, not the
people'.
periphery. But, as the suburbanization of industry and
population proceeded from the turn of the century
AN ASSESSMENT OF SMITH'S RENT GAP
onwards, land values in the inner city fell relative to the
THEORY OF GENTRIFICATION
CBD and the suburbs and a 'valley' in the land value
gradient opened up which intensifiedThis is an during
elegant the
argument, and Smith was q
decades of sustained suburbanizationcorrectinto 1940s,
attempt 50sto shift the emphasis away f
and 60s. This devalorization of the the early
inner consumer
city provided preference and demand a
the basis for subsequent profitablements
reinvestment.
towards a consideration of the supply of
trifiable
The key for Smith, is the relationship propertyland
between and the role of mortgage fin
value and property value. When depreciation
and profitability.ofBut
theit is now clear that, despite
existing structures has proceeded far enough,
importance the
of his rent gap thesis for an understan
point is reached where the capitalized
of theground rent of
uneven pattern of investment, disinvestm
site or neighbourhood is less than its potential
and reinvestment in the built environment, his re
ground rent in its 'highest and besttion use'. This is explanatory
of alternative the approaches,- part
rent gap, and according to Smith, gentrification
larly the role of theor new class, and its consump
redevelopment, can occur when andthe gap characteristics,
cultural is wide and his unwillingne
enough to ensure a profit. accord individual actors any significant role rende
his initial approach of only limited value for
Once the rent gap is wide enough, gentrification may be
explanation of gentrification. In Smith's thesis, i
initiated in a given neighbourhood by several different
vidual gentrifiers are merely the passive handmaid
actors in the land and housing market. And here we come
of capital's requirements.
back to the relationship between production and con-
sumption, for the empirical evidenceThe logical strongly
suggests place to start is with Smith's reject
that the process is initiated not by of
theconsumer
exercisedemand theory and Ley's post-indust
of those
thesis.
individual consumer preferences much Smithof
beloved acknowledged
neo- that only Ley's p
classical economists, but by some industrial
form ofthesis
collective
is broad enough to account for
social action at the neighbourhoodtrification
level (Smith, 1979,
internationally, but he rejected it as be
p. 545 emphasis added). contradictory. If individual preferences chang
unison, they cannot be individual preferences or
Smith's opposition to any explanation of gentrifi-
overriding constraints are strong enough to f
cation based on individual consumer preferences
them into is
the same mould. There is some truth in
clear cut, and referring to the importance of mortgage
second argument. Consumer preferences do
funding in this process, he argues that:
emerge out of thin air. They are partly soci
All the consumer preference in thecreated,
world manipulated
will come to and shaped, and they are nec
arily of
nought unless this long absent source made on the basis
funding re- of the available options
appears; mortgage capital is a prerequisite.
constraints Of
andcourse,
not always in the circumstances of
this mortage capital must be borrowed by willing
individual's con-
own choosing. Where Smith is wron
sumers exercising some preference or another. But these
in arguing that, for the concept of individual p
preferences are not prerequisites since
erence tothey canindividuals
be valid, be in different count
socially created (Smith, 1979, pp. 545-6).
must make different choices. If similar groups in
ferent countries are facing similar options at the s
Smith summarizes his thesis as follows:
time, it is scarcely surprising that there may be sim
outcomes. But this does not mean that individuals
'gentrification is a structural product of the land and
housing markets. Capital flows where totally
the ratedetermined in
of return is their choices as Smith (1
highest, and the movement of capital to
p. 540) the suburbs
seems to imply, or that all 'preferences ar
socially
along with the continual depreciation created'.
of inner city capi-
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180 CHRIS HAMNETT
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The blind men and the elephant 181
for gentrification to occur, it is nottheir own housing, are
sufficient. Itessential
does to the particular histories
not necessitate that gentrification which
will unfold
takein place.
a place' (Clark,
In- 1988, p. 244).
deed, rent gap theory says nothing about
Badcock why gentri-
(1989) in his study of Adelaide, South
fication should take place rather than some
Australia other
found form
convincing evidence that a sizeable
of renewal or redevelopment. Therent rent
gap gap theory
had developed byof
1970 in the City and in
gentrification is thus substantiallysome
under-determined.
of the surrounding Victorian residential suburbs
Gentrification is not 'to be expected' where
and that the
substantial rent
gentrification had subsequently
gap exists; it is a contingent phenomenon. Gentrifica-
occurred which filled in the rent gap. But he also
tion could occur but so could renewal, deterioration
concluded that 'the processes responsible for this rent
or abandonment.
gap are nowhere near as straightforward as Smith
And given that the gap between
would potential and
have it' (Badcock, 1989, p. 132). He argued
actual ground rents is predicated
that on the existence
gentrification was the third best response of capi-
of potential ground rent, Smith says
tal to very
existing little
conditions in Adelaide, and was, in
about the processes by which such
some ways apotential
sub-optimal investment strategy
ground rents come into existence.
(p. 133).It
In is possible,
other words, gentrification was not an
for example, that in gentrifying inevitable
areas, outcome
the potential
of the rent gap.
ground rent is, in part, a result It of demand
is clear from these from
two studies that the existence
potential gentrifiers (Moore, 1982). As
of a rent gapMunt (1987) condition for gentrifi-
is not a sufficient
argues: 'As gentrifiers can afford numerous
cation to occur. inner-city
On the contrary, the existence of a
residential locations, it follows that the size of the rent
rent gap can lead to a variety of different results
gap in particular locations depends including
on their attractive-
redevelopment or further decline. More
ness, and hence on demand, which is absent from
generally, it appears that Smith's theory is of value
Marxist gentrification theory' insofar
(p. 1177). Ley the
as it explains goesexistence of areas within
further to argue that the rentcities gap is not even
where gentrification maya take place. It says
necessary element of gentrification. In
nothing hiswhy
about view, all
gentrification tends to occur in
that is necessary is the potential some
forcities
profit and
rather than the or about the character-
others,
ability of gentrifiers to outbid existing or potential
istics and origins of the gentrifiers themselves, and
users for desirable inner city sites. Ley also argues
why they gentrified rather than suburbanized. As an
that most developers are risk averse and
analysis of willofnot
the cycles investment and disinvest-
risk entering an area until demand
mentisinproven. 'From
the built environment it remains a major
the developers point of view, demand
contribution,isbutthe bot-
its role in explaining other aspects
tom line. In short capital follows demand,is though
of gentrification limited.
this is not to say that local markets cannot
The principal beSmith's theory was
reason why
manipulated e.g., blockbusting or that demand is
unable to address these other questions was that,
produced by broader economicgiven
contexts'
its focus on (1990,
the production of the built environ-
personal communication). ment, it was 'limited to the specification of pre-
These problems with the rent gap thesis
conditions for have been of gentrified dwellings
the production
documented in two recent empirical studies. the
without considering Clark
production of 'gentrifiers',
(1988) found clear evidence of a rent gap in his pioneer-
the occupants of such dwellings' (Rose, 1984, p. 51).
ing analysis of the evolution ofBecause
landSmith
andfocused
propertyhis explanation on the produc-
values in Malmo, Sweden, but he tion argued that
of the rent gap,itand
wasconflated and dismissed as
theoretically explicable either in 'preferences',
terms of Marshall's
changes in occupational structure,
neo-classical formulation or in terms of Smith's
demographic and reproductive behaviour, he ignored
Marxist one, and that the rent gap was in no sense a material changes influencing the production of
key
determinant of gentrification or a complete expla-
gentrifiers, and equated materialist explanations with
nation for it. In fact redevelopment rather than gentrifi-
the rent gap.
cation occurred in all cases in Malmo. Clark thus
rejected the idea of:
THE PRODUCTION OF GENTRIFIERS AND
some predetermined development with the 'needs ofTHEIR LOCATIONAL CHOICES
capital' as prime mover and the rent-gap as time-set
triggering mechanism. The action of agents with econ-In the early 1980s, Ley's thesis regarding the ro
omic or political interests, and of individuals interested inchanges in the social and spatial division of labour
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182 CHRIS HAMNETT
in occupational structure
theoretical and empirical work by Marxists has been and t
exclusively preoccupied
middle class' and the with those links
aspects of gentrifi- to g
paralleled in cation which can be directly related to the operation of
different ways
workers who made theoretical links between the law of value in the built environment of capitalist
cities .... This has created not only an analytical gap but
changes in the social and spatial restructuring of
also an epistemological error of considerable importance
labour processes, corporate organization and what
(Rose, 1984, p. 52).
Rose (1984) termed the production of gentrifiers.
One such link was made by Mullins (1982) who She argues that it is essential to move beyond this
argued that dramatic changes had taken place inlimited conception to explore the links between
very
the Australian inner city. The decline of inner city
gentrification and changes in the social and spatial
manufacturing and the skilled working class resi-
restructuring of labour processes and the repro-
dent population had been accompanied by duction
the of labour power and people, which have been
emergence of corporate centres for monopoly
largely ignored by economistic approaches which see
capitalism and middle class office workers. Mullins
social processes as either derivable from the economic
linked this to gentrification, arguing that 'whereas
or epiphenomenal. Beauregard (1986) has similarly
the working class of an earlier form of inner argued
city that the rent gap alone is a totally inadequate
lived there because of employment reasons centred
explanation of gentrification. 'The explanation for
on manufacturing industry, "educated labour"gentrification
is begins with the presence of "gentri-
coming to reside in the inner city (for) unique con-
fiers", the necessary agents and beneficiaries of the
sumption reasons' (p. 45-6). But, as Mullins noted:
gentrification process, and the directions taken by
'the development of office employment cannot their reproduction and consumption' (Beauregard,
wholly explain the residential increase of inner city
1986, p. 41).
educated labour simply because the bulk of these His argument involved three key components.
workers ... reside in the suburbs and commute ....
First, that the demand for inexpensive, inner-city
Other processes must have been involved in this housing is not a new phenomenon and cannot simply
residential development' (Mullins, 1982, p. 53). A be explained by the rent gap. Secondly, that 'the gen-
similar link was also made by Moore (1982, p. 1) trifiers are often, though seldom alone, the "agents" of the
who argued that 'gentrification represents the pro- gentrification process, and thus provide the motivations
cess whereby an important fraction of the new class is and aspirations that shape it', and thirdly, that without
establishing a residential identity concomitant with this group the process ceases to exist. Different types
its social identity, with the overall context of the of housing might be rehabilitated, but as character-
central city becoming more and more a white collar istics of gentrifiers are broadly similar across a variety
city'. of different areas, 'gentrification is defined by the presence
Mullins pointed to the key role of production and of gentrifiers' (Beauregard, 1986, p. 41 emphases
consumption of particular leisure-orientated arts ser- added).
vices within the inner city, which are produced and This is an argument radically at odds with that put
consumed by a limited number of educated workers.
forward by Smith. The causal primacy is exactly the
This explanation for gentrification, which is linked reverse. Whereas Smith assumed the existence of
to the production of gentrifiers and to their cultural potential gentrifiers, and saw the production of
requirements is similar to Ley's thesis, and identifies a appropriate areas as the key to the process, Beauregard
specific reason for the locational concentration of the identifies gentrifiers as the key to explaining the pro-
new class in the inner cities: their cultural needs and
cess. Gentrification without gentrifiers does not exist.
the concentration of cultural facilities. The locational
Like Ley and Mullins, Beauregard points to the crucial
question is of crucial importance. What Mullins role played by the changes in industrial and occu-
realized was that the growth of a new middle class or pational structure, and suggests that it is within the
service class is necessary, but not sufficient to explain 'urban professional and managerial fraction of labor
gentrification. A sufficient explanation must also that gentrifiers are situated'. And like Rose (1984),
account for why some of this group reside in the inner Mullins (1982), Moore (1982) and Williams (1984),
city rather than elsewhere (see also Moore, 1982). Beauregard argues that:
The argument regarding the key role of the pro-
duction of potential gentrifiers was developed by In order to explain why these professionals and man-
Rose (1984) who argued that: agers ... remain within the city and also engage in
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The blind men and the elephant 183
gentrification we must more away from the fact ofthe
urban transformation.
sphere of Given the movement of
capital into the urban
production and focus upon their reproduction core, con-
and and the emphasis on execu-
sumption activities .... What is it about an urban
tive, professional, resi-
administrative and managerial func-
dence, in addition to proximity to
tions,work, which
as well as other is the demographic
support activities,
and lifestyle changes
especially compatible with the reproduction and ... help to explain why we have
con-
sumption activities of this fraction of labour?
proliferating (1986,
quiche bars rather than Howard Johnstons,
p. 43). trendy clothes boutiques and gourmet food shops rather
than corner stores' (Smith, 1986, p. 31).
Beauregard concludes by arguing that:
This view represents the total marginalization of
the rent gap argument provides only one of the necessary consumption' to influencing the colour and design of
conditions for gentrification and none of the sufficient ones .... the icing on the cake of urban restructuring and gen-
Many areas of central cities have rent gaps greatly in trification. It ignores the arguments put forward by
excess of those areas that gentrify. Thus the theory can-
Moore, Beauregard and Ley regarding the import-
not easily explain why Hoboken... becomes gentrified,
ance of culture and consumption in explaining why
but Newark ... does not (1986, p. 39 emphases added).
the new class gentrify the inner city rather than move
out to the suburbs. While Smith accepts that it is
This is a crucial point which greatly weakens Smith's
important to explain the role of changes in the struc-
claims. To sum up, it is clear that the existence of a pool
ture of production and the changing spatial division
of new middle class potential gentrifiers is a necessary
of labour in producing professional and managerial
pre-requisite for gentrification to take place. So is the
workers in the inner city, he fails to address the reason
existence of a stock of potentially gentrifiable areas
and houses. But neither of these are sufficient for why a fraction of this group should locate in the inner
city. And when he discusses the role of gentrifiers he
gentrification to occur. That requires a fragment of the
resolutely dismisses any idea that they might play a
expanded professional and managerial group who
wish to live in the inner areas, and a concentration ofcrucial role in the process:
appropriate facilities and environments. Without as with the original frontier, the mythology has it that
these prerequisites, it is highly unlikely that gen- gentrification is a process led by individual pioneers and
trification will occur notwithstanding the actions of homesteaders whose sweat equity, daring and vision are
developers and the availability of mortgage finance. paving the way for those among us who are more timid.
But ... it is apparent that where urban pioneers venture,
the banks, real estate companies the state or other collec-
SMITH'S ATTEMPT TO INTEGRATE
tive economic actors have generally gone before (Smith,
CONSUMPTION INTO GENTRIFICATION 1986, pp. 18-19).
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184 CHRIS HAMNETT
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The blind men and the elephant 185
to view the rent gap as a key which translates
process. more
But such differences aside, the fact that Smith
general processes, i.e. the production of gentrifiers
had to undertake this reinterpretation is indicative of
into a spatial reversal. But Smith's argument
the that
limitations of the rent the
gap theory of gentrification
rent gap is the necessary centrepieceand Smith's
to any fundamental
theory of unwillingness to concede
that Smith
gentrification is too large a claim. As individuals have anyout,
points significant role in shaping
the rent gap establishes the opportunity,
their environment. not the
Yet the closest Smith can bring
necessity, for a spatial reversal to himself
occur.toThe go is to acceptgap
rent the role of collective social
may provide the means, but it actors doesand not provide
the functional a
requirements of differen-
tiatedneed
motive for gentrification. For this, we consumption
to lookin new mode of regulation. It is not
into
what is, for Smith, the heart of that
darkness:
Smith refuseslocational
to grant individual agency domi-
nance - this is not the argument - but that he seems to
preferences, lifestyles and consumption.
Given that Smith finds any emphasis
refuse toon individual
accept it even exists at anything other than a
life styles and consumption unacceptable; in
superficial level. His1987 heto any form of agency
opposition
explanation
outlined a way of trying to integrate reveals him as a structuralist for whom
production-side
and consumption-side argumentsindividual
vis-a-vis agency is reduced to the role of flickering
gentrifi-
cation in terms of a historical analysis of by
shadows cast societal
the light ofre-capital's fire.
structuring. This entailed rejection of Ley's ideas
about post-industrialism as a 'shallow empirical
abstraction ... incapable of sustaining
TOWARDS theoretical
AN INTEGRATED THEORY OF
scrutiny' (Smith, 1987a, p. 166) while reinterpreting
GENTRIFICATION
the substance of the consumption society argument
It has
in terms of the 'regulationist' analysis ofbeen argued that
Aglietta. It is both the social restructur
argued that as the intensive regime thesis
ofassociated with Ley and the rent gap th
accumulation
began to fray at the edges in the 1970s by
advanced and 1980s,
Smith are partial attempts to exp
there has been a switch towards agentrification. Ley's approach focused on change
new (post-Fordist)
the social
regime of accumulation associated not with and spatial
mass pro-divison of labour, change
duction and consumption, but with differentiated
occupational structure, the creation of cultural a
environmental
production and consumption. In this new demands
regimeand their
of transmission into
accumulation, the accent is on product-differentiation
the housing market via the greater purchasing power
and niche markets. Gentrification of
is the new class. He
explained inlargely
these took for granted the
existence of potential
terms as a result of the desire of gentrifiers areas suitable for gentrification
to differen-
tiate themselves from other social
and groups. Asprimarily
saw the process Smithin terms of housing
notes: market demand. Smith on the other hand focused on
the production of gentrifiable housing through the
It is this question of cultural differentiation in a mass
mechanism of the rent gap. He took for granted the
market which is most relevant to gentrification. Gentrifi-
existence of a supply of potential gentrifiers and
cation is a redifferentiation of the cultural social and
ignored the question of why a segment of the new class
economic landscape ... gentrification and the mode of
opted to locate in the inner city. Mullins, Moore,
consumption it engenders are an integral part of class
constitution; they are part of the means employed by
Beauregard and Rose argued that an understanding of
new middle class individuals to distinguish themselves the production of gentrifiers and their social and cul-
from the ... bourgeoise above and the working class tural characteristics was of crucial importance for an
below (Smith, 1987, pp. 167-8). understanding of gentrification. They developed
Ley's thesis considerably and argued that gentrifiers
What Smith has done is to reinterpret, in terms ofare central to the gentrification process. Without
regulationist theory, Ley's work on post-industrial them, the process cannot occur at all. But gentrifi-
consumption. But Smith's interpretation of con- cation is not simply a product of changes in the social
sumption and its role in gentrification is clearly veryand spatial division of labour, crucial though this has
different from that suggested by Ley and others. By been. A specific locational orientation towards the
stressing the importance of consumption within theinner city or specific housing areas within it, is also
framework of capital accumulation he attempted tonecessary and a supply of gentrifiable areas and
circumvent the theoretical dangers inherent in givinghousing defined not just in terms of the existence of a
individual gentrifiers a key role in the gentrification rent gap, but also in terms of relative desirability or
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186 CHRIS HAMNETT
attractiveness and
to spatialthe
divisions ofpotential
labour which have led to de-g
industrialization of advanced capitalist economies
1987, pp. 1195-6).
There are four andrequirements
the growth of the service sector. This, infor turn, has
occur on a significant
been associated with the
scale.
rapid expansion Theof the pro-
f
fessional and managerial
cerned, respectively, with servicetheclass, and supp
the con-
centration the
for gentrification, of key financial,
supply legal and otheroffunctions
po
in a relatively
and the existence small number of major citiescent
of attractive such as
environments. London
They and New York and Paris and a number of
comprise the
side elements other the
of major cities equation.
such as Vancouver, Toronto,The
Sydney and
involves a cultural San Francisco. It is in these cities
preference that
for i
gentrification has of
by a certain segment been most
themarked. service
possible to conceive
The explanationof a range
for gentrification must therefore of
depending on thebegin with the processes responsible for the produc-
combination of th
The range of outcomes are
tion and concentration of key fractions of the show
service
important point class in
toa number of major cities. Thesefrom
emerge processes
gentrification only
have produced theoccurs
pool of potential gentrifiers,
under and o
circumstances. None of must
the primary emphasis the be on theother
explanation of co
the expansion of this key group.
gentrification, although Ley This is not a con-
would
occur without a sumption
rent based explanation.
gapIt isas firmlylong
based in the as
changes in the structure
the purchasing power to of production
displace and the social or
users.
and spatial division of labour in advanced capitalist
countries.
TABLE I. Conditions for gentrification schema It is then necessary to explain why gentrifi-
cation occurs in some of these cities. As we have seen,
two conditions are necessary. First, it is necessary to
Rent No Rent
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The blind men and the elephant 187
close to central city jobs and social'choice, consumption
and cultural and culture' side of the deb
facili-
ties. This, in turn, depends on both
has, inthe
fact,growth
always had of
one foot very firmly plan
in the realities
service class job opportunities downtown, andof changes
on in the material base
demographic and lifestyle changes which and
production haveits seen
cultural manifestations.
large numbers of women enter the Inlabour
some ways,
forcetheandconflict has been between t
growing numbers of both single interpretations
households and ofdual
production. The one looking
career childless couples. For these groups,
changes inwith
the social
a highand spatial division of labour
disposable income, inner city locations
the production
offer proximity
of gentrifiers, and the other lookin
to employment and to restaurants, arts andof
the production other
the built environment. But, u
recently,
facilities. Not surprisingly, a significant Smith has of
proportion consistently interpreted t
them appear to have opted for inner former
cityapproach
residence
in terms
in of individual consumpti
those cities where city centre socialculture and choice,
and cultural and has generally rejected wha
facili-
had
ties exist. Without this effective to offer. based
demand, And this,
in as we have seen, has b
large part on a positive orientation considerable. Smith and
towards central has recently accepted that it
inner city living, gentrification is unlikely
important to to occurproduction and consumpt
integrate
however large the army of potential gentrifiers
but this andstill been in terms of a fra
integration has
however large the rent gap. work which either ascribes primacy to questions
We are therefore faced by three production
sets of conditions
or re-interprets consumption in a col
all of which are necessary, and tive
none of which areway. Smith's conception
non-problematic
individual action
sufficient. But it is clear that the existence of a is a limited and circumscribed one
poten-
He and
tial pool of gentrifiers is logically accepts that collective social actors can ma
theoretically
prior to the housing preferencesgentrification,
and lifestyles butofnota a multiplicity of individ
sub-group of the service class. And, while
actors. If thethe exist-
criticism of Ley's position has been m
ence of a supply of appropriate inner-city
limited, it is houses is
partly because he has said less and b
necessary for gentrification to occur, the
far less existence
assertive of
in his claims for theoretical prima
It is gentrification.
a rent gap will not, of itself, produce also clear that hisItinitial recognition of the
is thus difficult to accept Smith'srole
view
of athat the rent
new group of potential gentrifiers with th
specific
gap is 'the necessary centerpiece to any cultural
theory and
oflocational requirements
gentrification'. Necessary it may broadly
be, but correct. His sins have been of omission rat
if gentrifi-
cation theory has a centrepiece itthan
mustcommission.
rest on theThe supply of dwellings and
role of developer/speculators
conditions for the production of potential gentrifiers. in the process h
gone largely unexamined by Ley. They are seen
being largely derived from the demands from the n
CONCLUSIONS
class.
I have attempted to show that the debateSmith's overclaim,
the that gentrification is a structural
explanation of gentrification has been broadly
product ofshaped
the land and housing markets alone, can
by the conflict between those who have now argued
be seenthat
to have been misplaced as Smith now
the key to the problem lies in global changespartially in theThis is not to say that the rent gap
accepts.
structure of production and the socialthesis andwas spatial
wrong. The point is rather that the rent gap
division of labour, and in the concentration in specific
explains, at best, half the problem, and probably less.
cities of a section of the 'new middle class'The
orexistence
'service' of relatively cheap and devalued hous-
class with a particular demographic composition, andbut far from sufficient element of an
ing is a necessary,
cultural and consumption orientation. On the other
explanation. Equally, explanation of the production
hand Smith has consistently argued for the ofkey rolegentrifiers,
potential of their culture, consumption
investment and disinvestment in the builtand environ-
reproduction is necessary but insufficient. A com-
ment and for an approach based on theprehensive
primacy andofintegrated explanation of gentrifi-
profitability. This conflict has manifested itself
cation must in a
necessarily involve the explanation of
variety of ways. In a conflict between so-called
where gentrifiers come from and why they gentrify,
'supply' and 'demand' explanations, choice andareas
how the cul-and properties to be gentrified are
producedmany
ture versus capital and so on. Yet, I have argued and how the two are linked. And there is
of these dualisms and polarities have abeen
strongmore
case that, notwithstanding the role of
institutional
apparent than real and what Smith would label theand collective social actors such as real
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188 CHRIS HAMNETT
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The blind men and the elephant 189
HAMNETT, C. and RANDOLPH W. (1986)
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HAMNETT, C. and RANDOLPH, W. (1987)
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