MODELING THE CONTEXT AND CONTINGENCY OF GENTRIFICATION

Recent criticisms of the coherence of theories of gentrification, the potential for its continued expansion in the 1990s, and methods for as sessing its extent and significance have cast doubt an the utility of further research on the subject. This paper presents an empirical anal ysis of how gentrification altered the socioeconomic profile of the in ner areas of four US cities between 1960 and 1990. Field surveys are c onducted to delineate areas of visible housing reinvestment in Chicago , Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Washington DC. Stepwise discrim inant analysis of tract-level census data indicates that the degree to which gentrification reverses the urban status gradient is mediated b y the context in which the process occurs. While restricted in magnitu de, gentrification inscribes remarkably similar changes in socioeconom ic composition in different cities and signifies a new and distinct di mension of urban socio-spatial structure.