The spread of gentrification in Spain: comparative analysis in ten cities through a multidimensional index

Abstract

In the Spanish literature on gentrification there is a scarcity of studies that address the progress of the process jointly for large and medium-sized cities. This article proposes an index to measure the evolution of gentrification using census data from 2011 and 2021 in the 10 most populated cities in Spain. The index incorporates socio-demographic and real estate market variables to reflect the dynamics linked to the most recent waves of gentrification. For the analysis, we have used self-made territorial units, constructed by aggregating census tracts. For large cities, the index confirms the consolidation of the process in urban centres and its expansion to neighbourhoods further away from the centre. In addition, it shows the emergence of processes of supergentrification and transnational gentrification in areas that were already wealthy at the beginning of the period under study. In smaller cities, the data reflect the advance of gentrification in their centres while its expansion is more limited and less evenly distributed.