This article explores the possibilities for a political ecology of gentrification. Gentrification research, while firmly rooted in materialist social science, has not yet broadened its interests to consider ecological aspects of, or the role in gentrification of, discourses, social movements, and state policies of the environment. Understanding the political ecologies of gentrification involves recognizing the ways in which material relations and uneven resource consumption, concepts of nature, and the politics of urban environmental management affect gentrification processes. By synthesizing diverse literatures in urban studies, political ecology, urban environmental governance, consumption studies, and gentrification, this study argues that Vancouver, British Columbia represents a well-developed urban crucible for the new political ecologies of gentrification in North America. New developments in Vancouver increasingly contribute to gentrification using languages of sustainability and green consumption in a process of ecological gentrification. [
Urban planning policy in North America is increasingly dominated by the ideal of "sustainability-as-density"-the promotion of walkable neighborhoods containing high-density housing in proximity to transit and daily amenities. Although this planning approach is increasingly scrutinized due to its links to gentrification and rising regional housing costs, there are few examples of analysis of neighborhood-level effects, especially social impacts. This study extends a political ecology perspective to combine quantitative, cultural, and critical policy analysis methods to analyze neighborhood densification initiatives in the city of Vancouver, Canada. Densification was found to be entangled with socioeconomic neighborhood composition as well as cultural and lifestyle characteristics of gentrification. Increased public concern over tensions between the promotion of densification and housing affordability is also a factor, despite some limited efforts by the City of Vancouver to address social concerns. This suggests a need to rethink the roles of both densification and "the social" more generally in urban sustainability policy. [
This article draws on Margaret Radin's theorization of ‘contested commodities' to explore the process whereby informal housing becomes formalized while also being shaped by legal regulation. In seeking to move once‐informal housing into the domain of official legality, cities can seldom rely on a simple legal framework of private‐law principles of property and contract. Instead, they face complex trade‐offs between providing basic needs and affordability and meeting public‐law norms around living standards, traditional neighbourhood feel and the environment. This article highlights these issues through an examination of the uneven process of legal formalization of basement apartments in Vancouver, Canada. We chose a lengthy period—from 1928 to 2009—to explore how basement apartments became a vital source of housing often at odds with city planning that has long favoured a low‐density residential built form. We suggest that Radin's theoretical account makes it possible to link legalization and official market construction with two questions: whether to permit commodification and how to permit commodification. Real‐world commodification processes—including legal sanction—reflect hybridization, pragmatic decision making and regulatory compromise. The resolution of questions concerning how to legalize commodification are also intertwined with processes of market expansion.
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