Distinction and Development: Middle-Class Identity and Neighborhood Change in Santiago and Buenos Aires

This paper examines the role of the middle classes in processes of reinvestment in two neighborhoods in Santiago, Chile (Ñuñoa) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (San Telmo). These cities have inspired a significant gentrification literature. Yet, far from a uniform or inevitable process, the article suggests that regionally specific class meanings shape the residential choices of the middle-classes. Drawing on economic and cultural sociology, we show that housing choices are infused with status competitions that result in symbolic returns and shape the trajectory of neighborhoods. New high-rise development remains a potent symbol of middle-class status in these contexts, yet fewer residents are drawn to older housing markets or the former housing of the urban poor. The result is a highly contextual gentrification trajectory. Much of the residential and commercial development in Ñuñoa and San Telmo resulted from state policies rather than market dynamics. In both communities, to some degree, it was more common for middle class residents to be priced out rather than low-income residents being physically displaced to renovate housing for a local middle class. The two cases also offer evidence of middle-class collective action, with existing middle-class residents more likely to oppose development despite personal, material, and symbolic gains.