Gentrification in Rotterdam and Antwerp: a research plan

After the field study in the city of Middelburg, we are now going to start off with research into gentrification. First of all, we needed to formulate a research question. After a careful literary review, and background research into gentrification, the following central research question could be formulated:

How has gentrification influenced the urban geography of both Rotterdam and Antwerp  after the second World War?

In order to answer this question, a number of subquestions were devised:

1. Why was the area gentrified, what was the process behind it and who benefited from it?
2. What is the link between gentrification and the specific function of the city?
3. How did gentrification develop in the area?
4. What are the eventual effects of gentrification on the area?

To answer these questions, we need to establish a method of data collection. We want to collect the data via conducting interviews. In gentrified/gentrifying areas, we want to interview local inhabitants, small shop owners, real estate agencies, office buildings and cafes, to get a distinct impression on the development of gentrification in the area. 

Because we want to put our case study in the bigger perspective of gentrification, we dug up some literature related to these topics. Among others, the following sources will be used:

References

Uitermark J, Duyvendak J W, Kleinhans R, 2007, "Gentrification as a governmental strategy: social control and social cohesion in Hoogvliet, Rotterdam" Environment and Planning A 39(1) 125 – 141.

Kloosterman, R.C. & Van der Leun, J.P. (2010). Just for starters: commercial gentrification by immigrant entrepreneurs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam neighbourhoods. Housing Studies 14(5), 659-677.

Doucet, B.M. (2010). Rich cities with poor people: waterfront regeneration in the Netherlands and Scotland. Netherlands Geographical Studies. 391(1).

Doucet B, van Kempen R, van Weesep J, 2011, "‘We’re a rich city with poor people’: municipal strategies of new-build gentrification in Rotterdam and Glasgow" Environment and Planning A 43(6) 1438 – 1454.

Lees, L. (2008). Gentrification and social mixing: towards an inclusive urban renaissance? Urban Studies 45(12), 2449-2470.

Hamme, G. van & Strale, M. (2011). Port gateways in globalization: the case of Antwerp. Regional science policy and practice. doi: 10.1111/j.1757-7802.2011.01056.x

Christiaens E, Moulaert F, Bosmans B (2007) The end of social innovation in urban development strategies? The case of Antwerp and the neighbourhood development association ‘bom’. European Urban and Regional Studies 14: 238−251

BEAUMONT, J. and LOOPMANS, M. (2008), Towards Radicalized Communicative Rationality: Resident Involvement and Urban Democracy in Rotterdam and Antwerp. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 32: 95–113. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2008.00780.x