Policies and Geographies of Displacement. Contexts and Conceptual Uses for the Gentrification Debat

This paper reflects on the use, contents, relationships and political consequences of the concept of displacement within the context of human geography in order to place the debate on gentrification in the complex map of displacement at a global scale. By following an analytical approach and based on the empiric findings of a bibliographic review, the present paper organizes the use of the displacement concept into seven major thematic groups: 1) urban mobility and transport; 2) residential mobility; 3) migration; 4) extreme natural events; 5) political-military conflicts and tensions; 6) infrastructure and territorial planning projects; and 7) gentrification and urban renewal processes. This study concludes that the diversified uses of the displacement concept show the importance of population movement within the analysis of current socio-territorial processes. It is also concluded that research on gentrification may benefit from the findings of other studies on displacement since they refer to a larger debate associated with dispossession on a global scale.