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The spread of gentrification in Barcelona and Madrid, 2011-2019: socio-spatial analysis using an index of gentrification

Abstract:

The causes and effects of gentrification have received extensive coverage in recent years by researchers, public administrations, social entities and the media, among others. However, we still have little quantitative evidence available to dissect the diversity of sociodemographic factors that have been involved in the gentrification processes of Spanish cities. In this paper, we aim at contributing to expand this type of approach by two main axes of analysis. First, we calculate a gentrification index to measure the intensity of sociodemographic transformation processes in the neighborhoods of Barcelona and Madrid from 2011 to 2019 based on consistent stock data (population register) and flow data (records of residential and migration changes). Second, we compare the spatial patterns of the index and explore the similarities and singularities that gentrification processes have occurred through the following axes of analysis, which are closely associated with social vulnerability of the neighborhoods: (i) profile of new inhabitants, (ii) population displacement, and (iii) speed of population change. Our results reveal the expansion of gentrification into areas that had previously remained unaffected by these dynamics, and the distinctive features of the processes in each city.