Gentrification in the Athenian Context: the Gas Neighbourhood Case Study

Discourse on the phenomenon of gentrification has mainly focused on western cities of the US, Canada and the UK. However gentrification is experienced worldwide. Nonetheless as the socioeconomic and political context is different in each city, the process develops differently in each case with regard to the distinct background. However, research about gentrification in the Mediterranean region is limited. From this viewpoint this article deals with the gentrification process of the Athenian inner district of Gas. Although gentrification is privately led, the role of the State is crucial for the development and implication of this urban trend. Governments, central and local, facilitate this process and encourage private investments as in the short term they gain benefits and economic profits. However, in Gas the attraction of outside capital in special forms such as entertainment amenities overruns the local potential. This change in land-use results in the displacement of the local population, thus encouraging the conquest of the city’s core by the middle and affluent income classes. The article highlights the process of gentrification in this inner city area of Athens. Its basic purpose is to draw some general conclusions of the gentrification process in the Southern European context of Athens.