The Rent Gap and Transformation of the Built Environment: Case Studies in Malmö 1860–1985

ABSTRACTABSTRACTThe theory of rent gap has received much attention in the 1980's literature on gentrification and urban renewal. Two shortcomings in this literature are the neglect of other formulations than Neil Smith's and the lack of empirical research efforts to put the theory to a test. This paper attempts to alleviate these shortcomings by first presenting a comparison of alternative formulations of rent gap theory, and then presenting the results of an empirical effort to test the theory with historical data on six areas in Malmö, Sweden. These results corroborate the theory, but suggest some modifications.