IN-PERSON Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

Twenty-five years after Rogers’ urban renaissance agenda, “green” has become the defining rhetoric of urban regeneration worldwide. This paper develops a socio-political economic framework explaining why green infrastructure investments trigger gentrification in some cities but not others. Synthesizing comparative quantitative evidence across 28 cities with in-depth qualitative case analysis, I demonstrate that green gentrification emerges not from environmental improvement itself but from its implementation within specific configurations of: (1) municipal fiscal dependence on property tax revenue, (2) weak or absent anti-displacement housing policies, and (3) neoliberal governance frameworks emphasizing inter-city competition. The paper’s novel contribution is to theorize green gentrification as a symptom of the contradictions inherent in the urban renaissance model, rather than as an inevitable consequence of environmental planning. Through a mixed-methods comparative analysis of Atlanta, Barcelona, and Vienna—representing lead green gentrification, integrated gentrification, and protective policy contexts, respectively—I argue that decoupling sustainability from displacement requires fundamental challenges to property relations and fiscal structures that currently transform environmental improvements into mechanisms for real estate speculation. The findings have critical implications for just climate adaptation planning as cities worldwide pursue green infrastructure while facing intensifying climate pressures and housing crises.