Livable streets? Green gentrification and the displacement of longtime residents in Ghent, Belgium

Abstract

While urban greening initiatives are becoming increasing prevalent, some critical scholars have started to question the neutrality of this movement. Specifically, scholars have demonstrated that urban greening can inflate housing costs and as such give rise to processes of gentrification and displacement. This article examines processes of green gentrification in a particular neighborhood of Ghent (Belgium) that has been profoundly greened during the last two decades. Drawing on in-depth interviews with both gentrifying and longtime residents, we find that longtime residents are experiencing significant displacement pressures as a result of urban greening. However, rather than predominantly caused by soaring costs, displacement pressures seem to follow mainly from the political, social, and cultural changes encompassing greening initiatives. Consequently, we draw a more complex picture of green gentrification, one that has important implications for the way this process should be addressed.