Influences of gentrification on identity shift of an urban fragment: A case study

Abstract

This paper discusses the process of gentrification, researched through a perspective of its positive and negative aspects. It underlines the importance of reasonable proportioning, sensible structuring and long-term planning of transformation of urban spaces, which contributes to an upgrade of living conditions and qualitative advancement of social consciousness and development of needs of the local inhabitants, regardless of their socio-economic profile. Despite not perceiving gentrification as an a priori negative process, influences of alterations of urban tissue carried out through radical and narrowly interpreted modifications of their character may cause undesired changes in the perception and use of the space and were analyzed as well. A case study of the gentrification of Grbavica, an urban fragment in Novi Sad, Serbia, is presented. The goal of this research was to critically valorize the over-all transformation of the aforementioned fragment, taking into account architectural, urban, social, cultural, economic and other facets.

Keywords

• gentrification
• urban transformation
• socio-economic impact
• identity