Special Feature: Putting urban displacement in its place

Abstract

This paper offers a critical analysis of urban displacement and acts as an introduction to the Special Feature: ‘Putting urban displacement in its place’. It begins by noting the magnitude and significance of displacement, and summarises its constituent components. Drawing upon the work of Hirsh, Eizenberg and Jabareen [2020. “A New Conceptual Framework for Understanding Displacement: Bridging the Gaps in Displacement Literature between the Global South and the Global North.” Journal of Planning Literature 35 (4): 391–407], the paper then outlines four kinds of urban displacement processes which span cities in the Global South and North: development-induced displacement, slum clearance, eviction, and gentrification. Brief consideration is also given to the significance of studentification, touristification, and austerity for driving urban displacement. Next the paper explores three crucial issues regarding the conceptualisation of urban displacement: temporality, vulnerability to displacement, and its emotional impacts. The following section discusses rehousing/resettlement and post-displacement experiences. We then examine the contested relationship between displacement and gentrification. The penultimate section outlines some of the methodological challenges in undertaking research on displacement, and also returns to the theme of placing urban displacement via a discussion of urban politics. The final section summarises the four papers in the Special Feature.

Keywords:

• demolition
• displacement
• evictions
• gentrification
• mega-events
• post-displacement experiences
• regeneration
• resettlement
• resistance
• social housing

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the CITY editors, Thomas Aguilera, Raffael Beier and Zheng Wang for their helpful and insightful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks also to the participants of the ‘Urban Displacement: Drivers, Impacts and Experiences’ stream at the RC21 Conference, Delhi, September 2019. This stream formed the basis for the CITY Special Feature.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Watt

Paul Watt is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics. His most recent book is Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London (Policy Press, 2021). Email: [email protected]

Alan Morris

Alan Morris is a Professor in the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney. His most recent book is The Private Rental Sector in Australia: Living with Uncertainty (Springer, 2021). Email: [email protected]