2012WhewayCJphd.pdf (5.38 MB)
The transformation of English market towns: gentrification
thesis
posted on 2012-04-02, 13:12 authored by Craig James WhewayGentrification has been seen to be a predominantly urban process, characterised by
wholesale replacement of working class communities by a mobile middle-class
population (Glass, 1964). More recently, contributions have acknowledged that
gentrification is taking place further down the hierarchy of urban settlements with Neil
Smith (2002) noting that gentrification is expanding both vertically, upwards and
downwards through the settlement hierarchy (from cities to provincial cities, Dutton
2003; 2005 to smaller towns) and horizontally across the globe.
English market towns, this thesis argues, have become part of what Hackworth and
Smith (2001) term the third wave of gentrification with the state ‘entangled’ in the
process of gentrification. This can be seen through the encouragement of regeneration
in market towns, initiated through the 2001 Market Towns Initiative (MTI) that sought
to regenerate ailing market towns within England. The service role of these rural towns
has been seen as crucial to anchoring key services that service the wider rural
hinterlands in which market towns serve (Powe and Shaw, 2004)
The central argument of this thesis is that market towns are now at the leading edge of
rural restructuring. Many types of market town gentrifier have been identified,
specifically mature, ‘geriatrifiers’ who reside in the remote market towns and had past
service class working lives via professional and managerial employment and secondly,
professional/managerial gentrifiers, identified previously in rural villages (Phillips,
1993) who were using market towns as bases to commute and raise a family. Unlike
previous narrative concerning gentrification, this middle class incursion was physically
reflected through new build developments that have been targeted at market towns.
History
Supervisor(s)
Phillips, MartinDate of award
2012-01-01Awarding institution
University of LeicesterQualification level
- Doctoral
Qualification name
- PhD