Inner-city urban redevelopment in China metropolises and the emergence of gentrification: Case of Yuexiu, Guangzhou

Abstract

Gentrification is a well-known Western phenomenon involving the upgrading of urban areas, where economic forces compel the original inhabitants to be displaced by a wealthier group of people. Evidence of the gentrification process has been witnessed recently in Shanghai, which is a special case as the state has extended preferential policies not yet enjoyed elsewhere in China. This paper examines a more typical Chinese conurbation, that of the inner city of Yuexiu in Guangzhou, to provide an example of the characteristics of the emerging gentrification generally in China today. Some stylized characteristics are witnessed in several parts of the inner city. Several distinctive features regarding gentrifiers are also observed that are significantly related to the Chinese socialist market economy. The findings in general correspond well with the Shanghai studies in that gentrification is a chance happening that occurs as a result of extensive, new-build residential redevelopment. However, the result is not associated with a declining inner-city region, as has happened in the West, but rather has emerged in a still vibrant old urban center and exists as small-scale, residential-related gentrification rather than commercial gentrification.