gentrification

[jen-truh-fi-key-shuhn]

noun

1. the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, raising property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.

2. the process of conforming to an upper- or middle-class lifestyle, or of making a product, activity, etc., appealing to those with more affluent tastes.

   the gentrification of fashion.

gentrification

/ ˌdʒɛntrɪfɪˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. a process by which middle-class people take up residence in a traditionally working-class area of a city, changing the character of the area

Other Word Forms

• gentrifier noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of gentrification¹

gentr(y) ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -fication; coined by sociologist Ruth Glass (1912–90), German-born British sociologist in 1964

Word History and Origins

Origin of gentrification¹

C20: from gentrify (to become _gentry )

Example Sentences

Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park said in a letter to constituents last month that SB79 “opens the floodgates to developers, displacement and gentrification.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For the next five years, cities can exempt properties in high-risk fire areas, historic preservation zones and low-resource areas — an attempt to mitigate the bill’s effect on gentrification in low-income neighborhoods.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The changes have also sparked tensions typical of gentrification.

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What gets lost in facile critiques of gentrification, however, is its generative power.

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He told The Times he had concerns over the lack of guardrails for gentrification and displacement.

Read more on Los Angeles Times