On gaps in gentrification theory

Abstract Relations between rent gap and value gap explanations of gentrification have not been subjected to close analysis, though they have occasionally been presented as incongruent. This article argues for an integration of the two theories — that value gaps and rent gaps do not contradict or exclude each other but are on the contrary best perceived within a common theoretical framework. The case of gentrification in Sweden is examined from this perspective. In Swedish cities, value gaps were probably negligible before the 1970s, but have become an increasingly potent force of change since then, primarily in central locations. This however precludes neither instances of rent gap‐induced gentrification nor the more general presence of rent gaps as one important force behind reinvestment in the built environment.