New directions in transnational gentrification: Tourism-led, state-led and lifestyle-led urban transformations

Abstract

Transnational gentrification is class-based neighbourhood change driven by relatively affluent international migrants. In contrast to the conventional globalisation narrative in which people are significantly more place-bound than capital flows, transnational gentrification suggests that a globally mobile capitalist class has been in large part responsible for rapid change in many urban neighbourhoods. Observations of transnational gentrification have accelerated over the past decade, with scholarly accounts reporting on cases in disparate locations – particularly those in Latin America and the Mediterranean with ‘charming’ old-world architecture, significant cultural amenity and rents below OECD averages. In this article we attribute transnational gentrification in the 21st century to three primary drivers: new forms of tourism and short-term rentals; state-led initiatives to revitalise urban neighbourhoods and catalyse economic activity; and lifestyle-driven migration and new forms of consumption. We argue that transnational gentrification is not simply an outcome of a globalised ‘rent gap’ but instead a product of a new global residential imaginary coupled with enhanced possibilities for transnational mobility facilitated by digital platforms and state-led efforts to extract new forms of rent from particular neighbourhoods. We conclude by offering a number of potential avenues for future research, many of which resonate with key themes that emerged decades ago as gentrification first began to transform cities and urban policy.