Gentrification on the Example of Suburban Parts of the Szczecin Urban Agglomeration

Abstract

Gentrification is a term first used by Ruth Glass in 1964 in reference to the process of taking over and revitalizing the degraded housing resources in the London Borough of Islington by their middle class owners. Ruth Glass discerned the impact of the improved living conditions in the gentrified area on ownership conditions, the appreciation of prices of land and houses, and changes in the social class structure. Nowadays, we can observe three types of changes taking place in gentrified parts of cities: economic, social and cultural ones.The author of this article presents the evolution of gentrification and points out the advantages and threats brought about by this process, including its effect on urban space and real property prices. She identifies the gentrification processes in Poland and their social impact, and verifies the hypothesis that contemporary gentrification, apart from being a physical process, is above all, a social and cultural one. On the example of some parts of the Szczecin urban agglomeration, she shows that gentrification, extending into the suburbs and rural areas, results in irreversible changes in land use and social structure.