Neil Smith
1954–2012
Scottish-American geographer who explained gentrification with an equation: the gap between what land earns and what it could earn.
Against those who explained gentrification by the tastes of a new middle class, Smith pointed at the money. His «rent gap» measures the distance between what run-down land yields and what it would yield reinvested. When that gap is wide enough, investment arrives — and it arrives for the whole neighbourhood, not one house.
He also described the «revanchist city»: urban policy that treats poverty as a public-order problem and answers with evictions, by-laws and surveillance. Smith wrote it about 1990s New York, but the description is recognisable in many cities thirty years on.
On Neil Smith in this archive
- Housing
Rent gap reveals gentrification start
One building ages while another, only a few streets away, receives a complete renovation.
Neil Smith 3 min read - Housing
Painted walls: art, investment, and displacement in Spanish and American cities
A grey wall wakes up covered in colour. Neighbours celebrate it. Someone photographs it and shares it.
Neil Smith 4 min read - Housing
Neil Smith and Gentrification: Understanding the 'Revanchist City'
Neil Smith's work explores gentrification as a process driven by capital, leading to displacement and urban…
Neil Smith 2 min read - Shrinking cities
Deindustrialization and Urban Reuse
Deindustrialization and urban reuse reshape cities, offering opportunities and challenges for revitalization and…
Neil Smith 2 min read - Shrinking cities
Post Industrial Regeneration: Transformation And Social Challenges
Post-industrial regeneration refers to the transformation of urban areas that have been affected by…
Neil Smith 3 min read - Housing
Gentrification or Displacement? The Debate on Urban Inequality
Gentrification is an urban process that has generated intense debate among urbanists, sociologists
Loretta Lees 2 min read - Urban form
Reurbanization and Urban Renewal: Opportunities and Challenges
Reurbanization and urban renewal have been central processes in transforming many cities over recent decades
Neil Smith 3 min read - Shrinking cities
Reusing Abandoned Spaces: Opportunities and Challenges
The reuse of abandoned spaces in cities has become an increasingly important trend in recent years
Neil Smith 2 min read
