Gentrification processes and neighborhood liveability in Madrid and Brisbane: impact on population health and development of urban policy recommendations

Project Information

GentriHealth

Grant agreement ID: 842957

DOI

10.3030/842957

Project terminated on 16 December 2020

EC signature date 25 April 2019

Start date 24 April 2020

End date 30 September 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 251 939,52

EU contribution

€ 251 939,52

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE ALCALA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GentriHealth (Gentrification processes and neighborhood liveability in Madrid and Brisbane: impact on population health and development of urban policy recommendations)

Reporting period: 2020-04-24 to 2022-04-23

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The New Urban Agenda aims to improve the living conditions in European cities. But the upgraded neighbourhoods face gentrification – the result of an increasing attraction to the area from people with higher incomes and rising costs of living. This results in inequalities and displacement of the more exposed population. The EU-funded GentriHealth project will examine and minimalize negative social consequences of this policy. It will focus on gentrification processes in the Spanish city of Madrid and in Brisbane, Australia, comparing related urban policies and social and health correlations, as well as impacts within several groups of society regarding their material status and gender. The general aim of the GentriHealth project was to generate policy-relevant evidence for the relationships between neighbourhood liveability, gentrification, and health. Specifically, the GentriHealth project has four objectives that seek to:
1. Identify gentrification-related urban planning policies and legislation in Madrid
2. Investigate the relationship between gentrification and changes in neighbourhood liveability
3. Examine how gentrification impacts the health of ‘stayers’ and ‘movers’, and whether this differs by gender and socioeconomic status
4. Work with policy-makers to develop policy-relevant solutions to reduce the potentially harmful effects of gentrification

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During this reporting period, we have completed activities regarding the first aim of the project (Identify gentrification-related urban planning policies and legislation in Madrid). We identified housing policies in Madrid, as well as we saw that Madrid has no specific law on the right to housing. Besides, we did not identify any specific policies designed to prevent the effects of gentrification in Madrid.
We also collected the data needed for investigating the relationship between gentrification and neighborhood liveability and the health status of stayers and movers. However, we did not finish these objectives due to the early termination of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Beyond the original plan, and based on a previous collaboration with the Drexel School of Public Health (USA), I have been collaborating in different analyses where we have seen that, in the US, changes in some neighbourhood liveability characteristics (e.g. increase in green spaces) between 1990 and 2000 lead to gentrification-related processes in the subsequent 10 years (2000-2010).