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Architecture vocabulary · Urban Planning and Design

Gentrification

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˌdʒentrɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/nounAdvanced term

In architecture, gentrification means: The process in which wealthier people move into a poorer neighbourhood, property prices rise, and many original residents and businesses are pushed out.

In Turkish: soylulaştırma, mutenalaştırma

How it is used

Common in urban studies, journalism and design critiques. The sociologist Ruth Glass first used the term in 1964, writing about London. Neighbourhoods 'gentrify' or 'are gentrified'; architects discuss how regeneration can happen without displacing residents.

Example sentences

  1. Gentrification has turned the old workshops into cafés and expensive lofts.

  2. Our studio project asks how to renew the district without gentrification.

Common collocations

  • process of gentrification
  • gentrified neighbourhood
  • displacement
  • urban regeneration
  • public spaceSpace that is open and accessible to everyone, such as streets, squares, parks, waterfronts and the public areas of civic buildings.
  • adaptive reuseGiving an old building a new use, such as turning a factory into a museum or offices, while keeping much of its original structure and character.
  • mixed-useDescribing a building or area that combines different uses, such as housing, shops, offices and public facilities, instead of keeping them separate.
  • densityHow much building, or how many homes or people, there is on a given area of land, often measured in dwellings or people per hectare.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Urban Planning and Design

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