Keynote Lectures

With financial help from : In its classical definition, gentrification refers to the physical and social transformation of existing districts. Recently, the concept has been extended to include high status developments and changes in the urban fabric such as the re-use of former industrial wastelands. This seminar will focus on “new-build gentrification” and on some recent trends in urban development such as regeneration and densification policies. It will address questions regarding the roles of the actors involved in these phenomena: national and local authorities, actors of the housing market and households who settle in the new dwellings (new middle class, transnational migrants, dual career households, etc.). The seminar thus gives the opportunity to investigate the demographic changes in core cities and their renewed residential attractiveness as well as to address different interpretations of these phenomena. The seminar is organised by Etienne Piguet, Patrick Rérat and Ola Söderström. It is held at the Institute of Geography, University of Neuchâtel, Espace Louis-Agassiz 1, 2000 Neuchâtel. The Institute of Geography is part of the Maison d’Analyse des Processus Sociaux (MAPS), which aims at studying the circulation of knowledge, people and capital.