Social and cultural exclusion in seaside gentrification on the south coast of England

Gentrification is re-emerging as a dominant and pervading social problem in contemporary cities, leading to the social cleansing of neighbourhoods with rich cultural histories. Much of the academic focus has been on relatively well-known urban sites such as Hoxton, Brick Lane, Brixton, Soho and Haggerston in London (Hubbard 2016; Sanders-McDonagh et al. 2016). Harris' (2012) study of arts-led regeneration in Hoxton, London concluded that the valorisation of artist led regeneration projects led to the influx of economic capital which then precipitated the pricing out of less wealthy resident populations. Hubbard (2016) concludes that 'hipster' culture is necessarily translocal (having the same basis in different contexts - microbreweries, coffee shops, retro / vintage) and hence as a process of global gentrification (Bridge 2007) is inevitably excluding of local populations. Paton's (2016) research on the working class experiences of gentrification in Glasgow suggests that processes of gentrification shape identity formation, producing emergent cultures in addition to 'emergent inequalities' (Paton, 2016). Further empirical research on the everyday practices of gentrification and the potential interdependencies between those positioned as 'outsider' and 'local' populations would build upon understandings of the construction of urban difference - for example classed identities - in relation to placemaking (Massey, 2005). This project takes a transdisciplinary approach in exploring gentrification on the south coast. The seaside is important because gentrification is relatively new and rapid there; but also because the seaside has a particular mix of creative and cultural industries; specific dynamics around age; has traditionally been outside the dominant flows of capital; celebrates forms of retrograde nostalgia; and is home for marginalised/precarious groups like asylum seekers and benefit claimants alongside the 'hipsters'.