Gentrification

Gentrification is a process of renovation and revival of deteriorated urban neighborhoods by means of influx of more affluent residents, which results in increased property values and the displacing of lower-income families and small businesses. This is a common and controversial topic in urban planning. Gentrification may be viewed as a "correction" of blockbusting and urban flight, as many gentrified neighborhoods of the present were once affluent neighborhoods of the past.

Gentrification is typically the result of increased interest in a certain environment. Early "gentrifiers" may belong to low-income artists or boheme communities, which increase the attractiveness and flair of a certain quarter. Further steps are increased investments in a community and the related infrastructure by real estate development businesses, local government, or community activists and resulting economic development, increased attraction of business and lower crime rates. In addition to these potential benefits, gentrification can lead to population migration.

In a community undergoing gentrification, as the average income increases, residents unable to keep up with rising rents or property taxes are forced to move out.

The term gentrification has come to refer to a multi-faceted phenomenon that can be defined in different ways.

Historians say that gentrification took place in ancient Rome and in Roman Britain, where large villas were replacing small shops by the 3rd century, AD. The word gentrification derives from gentry—which comes from the Old French word genterise, "of gentle birth" (14th century) and "people of gentle birth" (16th century). In England, Landed gentry denoted the social class, consisting of gentlemen. British sociologist Ruth Glass coined the term "gentrification" in 1964 to describe the influx of middle-class people displacing lower-class worker residents in urban neighborhoods; her example was London, and its working-class districts such as Islington:

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