THE COMMODIFICATION GAP
'In an elegant and careful theoretical analysis, this book demonstrates
how gentrification is always entwined with institutions and distinctive
contextual processes. Matthias Bernt develops a new concept, the
"commodification gap", which is tested in three richly researched cases.
With this, the concept of gentrification becomes a multiplicity and the
possibility of conversations across different urban contexts is
expanded. A richly rewarding read!'
--Jennifer Robinson, Professor of Human Geography, University College
London, UK
'Urban studies has reached a stalemate of universalism versus
particularism. Matthias Bernt is breaking out of this deadlock by being
very precise about what exactly is universal and what is not - and how
one can conceptualize both. The Commodity Gap is a key contribution to
not only gentrification studies, but also to comparative urbanism and
urban studies at large.'
--Manuel B. Aalbers, Division of Geography & Tourism, KU Leuven,
Belgium
The Commodification Gap provides an insightful institutionalist
perspective on the field of gentrification studies. The book explores
the relationship between the operation of gentrification and the
institutions underpinning - but also influencing and restricting - it in
three neighborhoods in London, Berlin and St. Petersburg. Matthias Bernt
demonstrates how different institutional arrangements have resulted in
the facilitation, deceleration or alteration of gentrification across
time and place.
The book is based on empirical studies conducted in Great Britain,
Germany and Russia and contains one of the first-ever English language
discussions of gentrification in Germany and Russia. It begins with an
examination of the limits of the widely established "rent-gap" theory
and proposes the novel concept of the "commodification gap." It then
moves on to explore how different institutional contexts in the UK,
Germany and Russia have framed the conditions for these gaps to enable
gentrification. The Commodification Gap is an indispensable resource
for researchers and academics studying human geography, housing studies,
urban sociology and spatial planning.
