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Inward and Upward: Marking Out Social Class Change in London, 1981—2001

Author

Listed:
  • Tim Butler

    (Department of Geography, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2 2LS, UK, tim.butler@kcl.ac.uk)

  • Chris Hamnett

    (Department of Geography, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2 2LS, UK, chris.hamnett@kcl.ac.uk)

  • Mark Ramsden

    (Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Winter Street, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK, m.ramsden@sheffield.ac.uk)

Abstract

Converting the 2001 census NS-SEC categories back into SEG categories for the 1981 and 1991 censuses, the authors show that there is a continued process of class upgrading occurring within Greater London compared with the rest of England and Wales. Inner London continues to see an increase in the proportion of residents in the higher social classes (particularly in the boroughs that were already gentrified in the centre and west of the centre). In outer London, there has been a process of upwards class change, but this is being led by the intermediate social class groups and is geographically more uneven. The authors conclude that these trends provide evidence for a continued gentrification of and social upgrading in inner London. The most significant finding is that London's gentrification is now being partly driven by the expansion of the `middle' middle classes of lower professional and intermediate non-manual groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Butler & Chris Hamnett & Mark Ramsden, 2008. "Inward and Upward: Marking Out Social Class Change in London, 1981—2001," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(1), pages 67-88, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:45:y:2008:i:1:p:67-88
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098007085102
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chris Hamnett, 2003. "Gentrification and the Middle-class Remaking of Inner London, 1961-2001," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(12), pages 2401-2426, November.
    2. Chris Hamnett, 1996. "Social Polarisation, Economic Restructuring and Welfare State Regimes," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(8), pages 1407-1430, October.
    3. Chris Hamnett, 1996. "Why Sassen is Wrong: A Response to Burgers," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(1), pages 107-110, February.
    4. John Friedmann, 1986. "The World City Hypothesis," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 69-83, January.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Szymon Marcińczak & Michael Gentile & Samuel Rufat & Liviu Chelcea, 2014. "Urban Geographies of Hesitant Transition: Tracing Socioeconomic Segregation in Post-Ceauşescu Bucharest," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1399-1417, July.
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    6. Antoine Paccoud & Alan Mace, 2018. "Tenure change in London’s suburbs: Spreading gentrification or suburban upscaling?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(6), pages 1313-1328, May.
    7. Haque, Md Bashirul & Choudhury, Charisma & Hess, Stephane, 2020. "Understanding differences in residential location preferences between ownership and renting: A case study of London," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Jonathan Reades & Loretta Lees & Phil Hubbard & Guy Lansley, 2023. "Quantifying state-led gentrification in London: Using linked consumer and administrative records to trace displacement from council estates," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(4), pages 810-827, June.
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    10. Szymon Marcińczak & Michael Gentile, 2023. "A Window Into the European City: Exploring Socioeconomic Residential Segregation in Urban Poland," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 114(3), pages 252-266, July.
    11. Chris Hamnett, 2021. "The changing social structure of global cities: Professionalisation, proletarianisation or polarisation," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(5), pages 1050-1066, April.
    12. Chris Hamnett, 2011. "Urban Social Polarization," Chapters, in: Ben Derudder & Michael Hoyler & Peter J. Taylor & Frank Witlox (ed.), International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities, chapter 32, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Antoine Paccoud, 2017. "Buy-to-let gentrification: Extending social change through tenure shifts," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(4), pages 839-856, April.
    14. Shenjing He, 2012. "Two Waves of Gentrification and Emerging Rights Issues in Guangzhou, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(12), pages 2817-2833, December.
    15. Paul Watt, 2008. "The Only Class in Town? Gentrification and the Middle‐Class Colonization of the City and the Urban Imagination," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 206-211, March.
    16. Jaap Nieuwenhuis & Tiit Tammaru & Maarten van Ham & Lina Hedman & David Manley, 2020. "Does segregation reduce socio-spatial mobility? Evidence from four European countries with different inequality and segregation contexts," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(1), pages 176-197, January.
    17. Chris Hamnett & Tim Butler, 2010. "The Changing Ethnic Structure of Housing Tenures in London, 1991—2001," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(1), pages 55-74, January.
    18. Nadja Kabisch & Dagmar Haase & Annegret Haase, 2010. "Evolving Reurbanisation? Spatio-temporal Dynamics as Exemplified by the East German City of Leipzig," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(5), pages 967-990, May.
    19. Melissa Butcher & Luke Dickens, 2016. "Spatial Dislocation and Affective Displacement: Youth Perspectives on Gentrification in London," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 800-816, July.

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