The changing state of gentrification

Gentrification has changed in ways that are related to larger economic and political restructuring. Among these changes is the return of heavy state i ntervention in the process. This paper explores heightened state involvemen t in gentrification by examining the process in three New York City neighbo urhoods: Clinton, Long Island City, and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bri dge Overpass). We argue that state intervention has returned for three key reasons. First, continued devolution of federal states has placed even more pressure on local states to actively pursue redevelopment and gentrificati on as ways of generating tax revenue. Second, the diffusion of gentrificati on into more remote portions of the urban landscape poses profit risks that are beyond the capacity of individual capitalists to manage. Third, the la rger shift towards post-Keynesian governance has unhinged the state from th e project of social reproduction and as such, measures to protect the worki ng class are more easily contested.