Age, life course and generations in gentrification processes

In this chapter, it is shown how multiple age groups are involved in different forms of gentrification. It is argued that it is necessary to consider age, life course, and generation in order to understand the increasingly widespread scale at which gentrification and displacement operate. The chapter zooms in on three different age groups in broader gentrification processes: (1) young people, (2) families, and (3) ageing groups. It specifically focuses on the crucial role of life-course transitions, and the cumulative experiences and residential trajectories of particular generations. It also considers the political economy of life course and shows how as gentrification has become mainstream it becomes an ever more likely outcome of the negotiation of various life-course transitions. Developers recognise this and jump on those niche markets for profitable speculative housing development, and lure those households deemed desirable.