A back to the city movement by local government action: gentrification in Spain and Latin America

Studies on gentrification in Spain and Latin America have been proliferating rapidly in recent years. It has provoked debates on the applicability of the concept and the particular characteristics that the process takes. In this context, the study looks at the transformation of city centres in Spain and Latin America through various case studies in which the use of the concept of gentrification is advocated, while drawing attention to the notable differences in the urban, social and economic spheres between these cases and the ones studied in English-speaking countries. Specifically, a key feature is claimed to be the primacy of state intervention as a catalyst of the process, so that gentrification in this region can be understood as a return to the city of local government action.