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New social movements and gentrification in Hamburg and Stockholm: A comparative study

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Abstract

Ottensen and Söder(malm) are old inner-city, working-class districts in Hamburg and Stockholm, respectively. In both quarters, the class composition of the population has changed since the 1960s in favour of the middle class. Parallel to this, the housing stock has been upgraded in physical, economic and aesthetic terms. Thus, in both cases, a gentrification process may be discerned. However, Ottensen and Söder have become very different places; one reason may be the role that new social movements have played in the struggle for the urban environment. The new social movements turned Ottensen into ‘The Alternative Quarter’ (alternativer Stadtteil), and it is still known as such. This article shows how they did it and then compares Ottensen to the Söder case, where gentrification has gone deeper, particularly since the 1980s. Using Ottensen as a yardstick, the conditions are identified that made the new social movement less productive here in the struggle over space, despite the favourable conditions. The article thus foregrounds the differences in opportunity structures and the spaces available for the new social movements to reappropriate.

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  1. Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University, Box 785, 801 29, Gävle, Sweden

    M. Franzén

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Franzén, M. New social movements and gentrification in Hamburg and Stockholm: A comparative study. J Housing Built Environ 20, 51–77 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-005-6764-z

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