How is Gentrification Impacting Southwold’s Old Town?
Introduction:
Southwold is a small, old historic town (Figure 1) located in the east of England on the North
Suffolk coast (Figure 2 & 3). It has a population of 1,098 (Citypopulation,2021) and is 3km in
size. It has the image of a traditional English seaside with high quality, making it a popular
tourist destination with high amenity value. In the centre of the town there are shops,
hotels, houses, parks, restaurants and even a theatre. It also has a lighthouse, a pier a
museum and the Adnams Brewery. There are about 471 males and 627 females; females
averagely live longer than men this is evident here (East Suffolk Council, 2019). The ethnicity
in Southwold is very monocultural, with 98% of the population being white, while only 2%
are mixed, Asian, black, and other are at 0% (East Suffolk Council, 2019). However, this
information is from the 2011 census, so it is likely to have changed since then.
Figure 1 – Southwold on a local scale
(Digimaps, 2022)
Figure 3 – Southwold on a national scale
(Googlemaps, 2022)
Figure 2 – Southwold on a regional scale
(Digimaps, 2022)
, The aims of the study include finding out how gentrification is impacting Southwold. To do
this it will be broken into three categories, these being the environment, the demographic
aspect, and the social aspect.
Gentrification is ‘a process in which a poor area experiences an influx of middle-class or
wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses, and which often results
in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer
residents’ (Merriam-webster, 2021).
Literature suggests that gentrification is caused by social and cultural factors, for example
family structure, rapid job growth, lack of housing, traffic congestion, and public-sector
policies (CDC, 2009). There are three theories attempting to explain these causes:
production-side theory, the rent-gap theory, and the consumption-side theory. The
production-side and rent gap theory was created by a geographer called Neil Smith who
states that ‘gentrification is based on the relationship between money and production’. He
said that low costs in the suburbs after World War 2 meant people abandoned urban areas
for these low costs. He then created the rent-gap theory which he used to explain the
process of gentrification. This theory describes the inequality between the price of land and
the potential price a piece of land could attain under higher and better use. He used his
theory to argue that if the rent-gap was large enough, developers would see potential profit
in redeveloping inner city areas. This will lead to higher rents and mortgages. Meaning the
increase in profits linked to his theory leads to gentrification (Amanda Birney, 2020).
The consumption-side theory was developed by a geographer called David Ley, who linked
the characteristics of people presenting gentrification and what they consume as opposed
to the market to explain gentrification. He states that these people are doctors and lawyers
for example and that they enjoy arts and leisure. Gentrification allows change to occur and
caters this population (Amanda Birney, 2020).
Figure 4 - Gentrification can be viewed as having four stages (Twigg, 2021).
•Individual, lower-middle class residents fix up the neighbourhood
Stage 1
•Vacancies start going down and middle class people move in meaning number of fixed-up
homes becomes more noticeable and more middle-class people are attracted to the
Stage 2 nieghboiurhood
•Public and private interests putting money into neighboourhoods
Stage 3
•About money, where it transforms into upper-clas living.
•Large groups of newcomers arrive
•Vacant properties are transformed into luxury houses
Stage 4 •Middle and lower-class are pushed out by newcomers and have to relocate as they can't afford
things in the new and improved town/city
,Gentrification brings positives and negatives with it. Positives can include a reduction in
crime, increased social mix, increased property values, reduced strain on services,
redevelopment and renovation of housing and buildings, this means the area becomes more
aesthetically pleasing and therefore a nicer place to live. As well as this it brings economic
opportunities. The negatives about gentrification include increased cost of local services,
homelessness, lack of affordable housing, displacement of locals and loss of identity. The
loss of diversity is also noticeable. Gentrification is a much larger issue than just one that
faces small coastal towns. An article written in the magazine About Time states that ‘over
recent decades, our major towns and cities have seen a marked and dramatic overhaul
aesthetically, backed in part by huge private and public investment’ (Angelica Malin ,
2018). Showing gentrification also impacts major towns and cities greatly. Though
gentrification happens on a local level it still impacts on a national and sometimes
international scale. Gentrification creates housing, economic, and health issues that affects
a community's history and culture and reduces social capital (CDC, 2009).
The National Centre for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland states that to measure
gentrification you need to see if there is an increase in home prices and see if the
population’s education level is greater than the region as a whole (Mychal Cohen, 2019).
However, this doesn’t acknowledge any racial or ethnic changes. A report which does
recognise this is one from the Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota Law
School’s, which states that to measure gentrification the displacement of lower-income
households by higher-income residents, replacement and/or rehabilitation of housing stock,
and displacement of racial minorities by higher-income white residents should be looked at
(Mychal Cohen, 2019). Although these are studies based in America, they can also be
applicable to the UK.
Gentrification is more common in major cities but is also very evident in smaller towns and
cities, for example in this case, Southwold. When reading the information before the study,
from Geography Fieldwork Academy it is evident that there has been a property price
explosion resulting in only wealthier people being able to afford these homes; often these
houses are then upgraded and renovating. As a result, the process of gentrification leads to
a new tidy appearance in the residential areas. With an increase in holiday home rentals
many would argue that Southwold has shifted from a local town to a tourist resort
(Geography Fieldwork Academy, 2022). They also stated that from estimates around 70-75%
of homes in Southwold are holiday rentals or second homes. So, it would be expected to
find high numbers like this in the study.
Figure 5 is a picture taken by Martin Pope from The Guardian in 2016. It shows that there
was a 177% increase in small business rates in Southwold. This means the businesses have
to spend more money in what they are charged. As well as this there is a website and
campaign called save our Southwold, which reads ‘let’s keep our former cottage hospital for
the community!’, showing that as gentrification takes place old buildings can ultimately be
knocked down to either build new homes or businesses, leading to the locals in Southwold
have coming together to try and stop this and save the old cottage hospital. As this photo
was taken about 6 years ago it’s obvious that things would have changed by then but would
still be expected to see an increase in prices of houses or business rates and newly rebuilt
buildings. It will be good to actually see if there is a big change or if it has stayed the same.
, Figure 5 – sign hung up outside community hall in Southwold
(Pope, 2017)
It is important to study this topic as it shows how the world is changing daily and how the
characteristics in a community can be impacted greatly by gentrification. It shows how the
wealthier people are able to afford new housing while others can’t afford it so are forced to
buy somewhere else or watch their local town transform into new businesses and buildings,
forgetting about its history. Gentrification loses the community's history and culture. It can
change a neighbourhood’s characteristics by adding new stores and resources in previously
run-down neighbourhoods.
It can be negative and emotional for some whereas for others it might be a positive thing.
Some say refreshes run-down neighbourhoods, improves public safety, and attracts
newcomers to boost the economy. Others will say it displaces the locals and causes long
term residents to get priced out due to rising house prices and cost of living. Gentrification
can cause conflict within the community, making it a divided community which is not a
pleasant place to live. Some residents will be welcoming to the changes while others will be
upset by the tension bought to the neighbourhood (Lindsay M. Miller, 2019).
With the last census being in 2011 and lots of articles being from a few years ago there is no
recent data about how Southwold is being impacted now or how it has already been
impacted in the past few years, so the aims of this study are to fill in these gaps and find out
if Southwold has been impacted and what factors have caused this. The release of the 2022
data is imminent so when released could compare the results found in this study with the
results of the census.
This location was chosen because it is a small town, making it a manageable size to
investigate. From figure 4 Southwold lays in stage 2 to 3 in the cycle. Meaning middle class
people are moving in and homes and property are being fixed up, as well as this public and
private interests are putting money into the neighbourhood. In addition, an article in The
