Initiative in Urban Sustainable Development - Talks by Visiting Fellows

“Suburban gentrification” of older, inner-ring suburbs is an emerging phenomenon that has the potential to transform metropolitan regions. It may foreshadow shifts in household location patterns and changes in the socio-economic composition of neighborhoods similar to examples of gentrification observed in central cities. Using evidence of residential redevelopment in the inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, in the lecture Prof. Charles discusses the unique manifestation of redevelopment/gentrification in the inner-ring suburban context.

Artists have long been viewed as pioneers of gentrification, and yet contemporary studies also point to how artists themselves have been displaced as a consequence of the revalorisation of property. This talk presents the case of a gentrifying neighbourhood in Montreal, where artists have successfully fought to secure affordable studio space, and reflects on the lessons that this case suggests for a broader struggle against displacement.