Beyond Gentrification: The Demographic Reurbanisation of Bologna

Abstract

It has recently come into question whether the term ‘gentrification’ can capture the wide array of contemporary demographic processes in the inner city. There is also a need to extend the gentrification debate beyond the Anglo-American context, while understanding the urban implications of contemporary demographic processes. In response to such challenges we examine the changing population geographies of the city of Bologna, with the aim of establishing, whether the concept of ‘reurbanisation’ can provide a more useful encapsulation of its recent sociospatial transformations. Upon investigating the spatial patterns and movements of relevant population structures at various scales within the city, we have found that Bologna is the site of multifaceted and multidirectional demographic trends. In their entirety, these dynamics are leading to the social diversification, ‘residentialisation’, and fragmentation of the urban fabric. Such processes cannot be subsumed under the notion of gentrification because they do not involve major housing renovation and are spread throughout the inner city in a diffused and fragmented manner. ‘Reurbanisation’ is a more appropriate term to describe them.