Assessing the role of redevelopment policy in commercial gentrification

This thesis explores the relationship between state-led redevelopment, specifically Rotterdam’s Woonvisie 2030, and commercial gentrification. The research consists of a multi-method comparative analysis of two multi-ethnic post-industrial neighborhoods in Rotterdam Zuid: Afrikaanderwijk and Carnisse. The objectives of this research are to assess the characteristics of state led redevelopment, identify the concerns of businesses, examine the role redevelopment policy has in commercial change, using the lens of ethnic change, and finally, comparing two neighborhoods at different stages of the gentrification process. In order to collect data, this study employed a combination of site-visits, data collection, textual analysis of policy documents, and interviews with shopkeepers. Using theories of the revanchist city and the role ethnicity plays in it, this study contextualized the Woonvisie as a policy in favor of explicit class change and implicit ethnic change. Indicators of commercial gentrification were stronger in Afrikaanderwijk, the neighborhood currently further along in the gentrification process. Finally, a variety of concerns for shopkeepers were identified, with housing, and ethnic change being consistent themes. Based on the information collected, this study offers several compelling insights for the field of commercial gentrification research. It suggests that in the case of Rotterdam, claims of revanchism hold weight based on an analysis of the policy documents. Furthermore, it suggests ethnicity plays an important role in shopkeepers’ perceptions of commercial change. In the presence of heightened redevelopment activity, the interviews showed that shopkeepers had heightened perceptions of housing and class change, indicating that business owners indeed are sensitive to state-led redevelopment. The prevalence of ethnicity in the results strengthens claims that it is an important concept in gentrification research, suggesting future scholarship should move beyond strictly economic analyses.