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Gentrification—Gentle or Traumatic? Urban Renewal Policies and Socioeconomic Transformations in Copenhagen

Author

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  • Henrik Gutzon Larsen

    (Department of Development and Planning, University of Aalborg, Fibigerstræde 13, Aalborg, 9220, Denmark, hgl@plan.aau.dk)

  • Anders Lund Hansen

    (Department of Economic and Cultural Geography, Lund University, Geocentrum byggnad I, Sölvegatan 10, Lund, 223 62, Sweden, Anders.Lund_Hansen@keg.lu.se)

Abstract

This article contrasts the intentions and outcomes of the publicly instigated and supported urban renewal of Copenhagen's Inner Vesterbro district. Apart from physically upgrading the decaying buildings, the municipality's aim was to include the inhabitants in the urban renewal process and, seemingly, to prevent the dislocation of people from the neighbourhood. However, due to ambiguous policies, the workings of the property market and the lack of sufficient deflecting mechanisms, middle-class inhabitants are now replacing the high concentration of socioeconomically vulnerable people that characterised Vesterbro before the urban renewal. This process may appear `gentle', but it is nonetheless an example of how state and market interact to produce gentrification with `traumatic' consequences for individuals and the city as a socially just space.

Suggested Citation

  • Henrik Gutzon Larsen & Anders Lund Hansen, 2008. "Gentrification—Gentle or Traumatic? Urban Renewal Policies and Socioeconomic Transformations in Copenhagen," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(12), pages 2429-2448, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:45:y:2008:i:12:p:2429-2448
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098008097101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roger Andersson & Sako Musterd, 2005. "Area‐Based Policies: A Critical Appraisal," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 96(4), pages 377-389, September.
    2. Tom Slater, 2004. "North American Gentrification? Revanchist and Emancipatory Perspectives Explored," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(7), pages 1191-1213, July.
    3. Anders Lund Hansen & Hans Thor Andersen & Eric Clark, 2001. "Creative Copenhagen: Globalization, Urban Governance and Social Change," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(7), pages 851-869, October.
    4. Jamie Peck, 2005. "Struggling with the Creative Class," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 740-770, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chunhui Liu & Weixuan Song, 2019. "Perspectives of Socio-Spatial Differentiation from Soaring Housing Prices: A Case Study in Nanjing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Hans Thor Andersen & Lars Winther, 2010. "Crisis in the Resurgent City? The Rise of Copenhagen," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 693-700, September.

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