La ville branchée : gentrification et dynamiques commerciales à Bruxelles et à Paris

Abstract

Change in the structure and forms of retail landscapes in cities often compose a distinctive feature in gentrification processes. However, analyses considering retail dynamics as actors per se leading – rather than being induced by – gentrification processes remain very seldom in literature, unless in well documented cases of large-scale urban renewal schemes including a strong retail component. In this article, we investigate in parallel two cases of « spontaneous », non planned commercial gentrification processes, the one in Brussels (Dansaert/Saint-Géry), the other in Paris (Oberkampf, 11th arrondissement). Both neighbourhoods are located at the edge of poor districts in the inner city and are now widely acknowledged as new « trendy » retail and bar districts. In both cases, the production of this new type of space is a core element in the entrepreneurial strategies of the protagonists leading the process of commercial gentrification. Moreover, relevant forms of competition and complementarity emerge in this new retail environment that are far more complex than a process of « old » retail forms being displaced by new « trendy » ones.

Keywords

• commercial gentrification
• trendy retail
• fashion
• bar
• Brussels
• Paris