City Talks: Is gentrification a bad thing?

On this month's City Talks, Andrew begins with a brief look at the upcoming Autumn Statement with colleagues from the Centre. Chief Executive Alexandra Jones gives her best guess on what kind of tone Philip Hammond will set, and Principal Economist Paul Swinney wonders whether further devolution packages will wait until after the Mayoral elections next year. After that Andrew dives into the gentrification debate with author and journalist Anna Minton, Shelter's Head of Policy Toby Lloyd, and the Centre's very own Ed Clarke, who's recent blog on the issue spurred a lot of discussion on Twitter. The panel look at how the advent of the post-industrial economy has made city living more attractive, why displacement of poorer residents matters to the economy, and how best to manage urban change. Also touched on is whether Ruth Glass' definition of gentrification is still relevant, the problems with Aneurin Bevan's vision of mixed communities, and what Jane Jacobs really thought about the changes to Greenwich Village.