The Geography of London's Gentrification

In this paper I discuss the findings of recent research on the gentrification of inner London. The increasing domination of inner London by the professional and, to a lesser extent, managerial middle classes is continuing. London is becoming increasingly middle class. There is a discernible geography to this process around what I term a ’metropolitan habitus’. In inner London, this is diffused into spatially distinct ’mini habituses’. These are not necessarily reducible to differences of income or occupation but reflect what Savage has termed a sense of ’belonging’ in which identification with a particular and chosen place appears to be strong.

I discuss this in relation to five case study areas in inner London (see map). These areas have been gentrified for varying lengths of time and represent different forms of gentrification. More generally, I suggest that people seek out areas which they believe to contain ‘people like themselves’. What this research however misses, in common with most gentrification research, is that this appears to be an entirely white affair. In the second part of the paper, I speculate about the reasons for this. London’s minority ethnic population has increased by roughly 50% over the last decade (1991-2001) from approximately 19% to 29%. However, its geography has changed more dramatically still moving out from its concentration in the inner London boroughs into many of what were formerly white outer London areas. There is some evidence, as suggested above, that this dispersion is a consequence of upward social mobility and housing market factors (more affordable houses being further out). At the same time, there are differences in behaviour between different ethnic groups: Asians tend to cluster in particular areas whereas Africans and Caribbeans tend to be more diffused.