NUI MAYNOOTH OllaceU ha kEiranfin Mi H uad OLLSCOIL NA hEIREANN MA NUAD THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH Changing Cityscapes and the Process of Contemporary Gentrification: An examination of the transformation of Ringsend within the context of post-industrial growth in Dublin A thesis submitted by Mary Benson B.A. for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology Department, Faculty of Arts, Research Supervisors: Dr. Mary Corcoran & Professor Michel Peillon Head of Department: Professor Sean O Riain October 2006 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of many people. In particular I would like to thank the following: My supervisor Dr. Mary Corcoran, whose belief in me and my work has been a constant throughout this research. I am deeply grateful for your knowledge, advice, support and friendship. Professor Michel Peillon, my second supervisor, whose critical comments on my work were gratefully received. Professor Sean O Riain for your insights and advice. All those who took part in this research for sharing your insights and memories with me. The landscape of Ringsend for revealing so much. To Tach for always being there. Thank you for your love and understanding. To my friends for never letting me lose sight of the ‘big picture’ and for putting up with me for all these years. Finally, this PhD. would not have been possible without the love and support of my family: Michael (Dad), Catherine (Mum), Carol, Philip, Geraldine, Daniel, Jordan, Geòrgie, Sarah, Sean, Liam and Jack. Thank you all for being just who you are. In loving memory of Ann who thought me always to smile. I Abstract1 The process of contemporary gentrification is a key feature of post-industrial growth and urban re-generation. A central concern of this research is to investigate the implications of the process of gentrification at the level of locality. This study approached this investigation by an examination of these processes within a particular inner city neighbourhood in Dublin called Ringsend. It is the understandings and experiences of contemporary processes that this research has aimed to capture. The aim of this research was to examine the changes occurring in Ringsend at a particular point in time and in a particular context. Ringsend is an inner city working-class ‘urban village’ in Dublin, Ireland. The identity of Ringsend as ‘place’ is deeply entwined in its industrial development. However, since the 1970s Ringsend’s industrial base has been constantly eroded. In recent years Ringsend has attracted considerable private investment as the area is undergoing a shift to a post-industrial landscape. The process of contemporary gentrification is extremely visible in the built environment. The aim of this study was to capture these shifts as they are occurring and as the landscape changes further the opportunity to explore this particular juncture may not arise again. The central findings of this research indicate the importance of ‘place’ in recent transitions. However within these changes place is being re-imaged and re-structured. Further this research also highlights the importance of the specificity of locality in gaining a deeper insight into the process of contemporary ‘gentrification’. Finally this thesis argues that the changes occurring in Ringsend are impacting on understandings of ‘community’ and community re-generation. A central theme within this study is that while the shift to a post­ industrial society is advantageous for capital accumulation contemporary gentrified sites, 1 This research was partly funded by the Irish Research for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) increasingly surrounded by walls and gates, function as symbols of the uneven development of contemporary urban renewal. Ill This thesis is dedicated to my dad, Michael, and to my mum, Catherine, for everything they have done for me. Table of Contents Acknowledgements I Abstract II Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Shaping the Cityscape (1.1) Introduction 20 (1.2) Shaping the modem cityscape 21 (1.2.1) The Industrial Revolution and urbanisation 22 (1.2.2) Fordism 24 (1.2.3) Modernity 29 (1.3) Defining the ‘posts’ 31 (1.4) Post-industrialism 32 (1.5) Post-Fordism 41 (1.6) Post-Modemity 48 (1.7) Amalgamating the ‘posts’ : some general trends 56 (1.8) Spatial implications of the ‘posts’ 57 (1.9) Conclusion 60 Chapter 2 The Contemporary Cityscape: Gentrification, Place and Identity (2.1) Introduction 6 8 (2.2) The contemporary cityscape 68 (2.3) Gentrification 71 (2.3.1) Explaining gentrification 75 (2.3.2) Combining supply and demand explanations 81 (2.3.3) Gentrification: class, consumption and identity 82 (2.3.4) Social preservation 85 (2.3.5) Post-recession gentrification 87 (2.3.6) Gentrification: an overview and relevant questions 89 (2.4) Consequences for ‘place’ and ‘identity’ 91 (2.5) Dublin’s changing cityscape 96 (2.5.1) Dublin’s declining industrial landscape 96 (2.5.2) Contemporary Dublin 101 (2.6) Conclusion 109 Chapter 3 Methodology (3.1) Research Question 113 (3.2) Dublin/Ringsend 114 (3.3) Methods of research 116 (3.3.1) The qualitative approach 122 (3.3.2) Ringsend as a case-study 129 (3.3.3) Participant observation 131 (3.3.4) Interviewing 134 (3.3.5) Document analysis 137 (3.3.6) Photographic representation 138 (3.3.7) Oral evidence 142 (3.4) Analysis of data 144 Chapter 4 Ringsend: An Historical Overview and Visual Representation (4.1) Introduction 149 (4.2) Ringsend’s changing landscape 150 (4.2.1) The development of Ringsend 151 (4.2.2) Ringsend as a working-class village 153 (4.2.3) Industrial development and decline 155 (4.2.4) Urban Renewal: The Custom House Docks Development Authority and The Dublin Docklands Development Authority 161 (4.3) Ringsend as a post-industrial landscape 166 (4.3.1) Demographic profile 169 (4.4) Contemporary Ringsend: a visual representation 174 (4.5) Selling Ringsend 197 (4.6) Conclusion 202 Chapter 5 Place Matters (5.1) Introduction 207 (5.2) Defining concepts 209 (5.3) Ringsend as place 211 (5.4) Ringsend in a wider economic context 214 (5.4.1) A post-industrial demand/preference for inner-city housing 220 (5.5) Place marketing 223 (5.6) The end of place? 230 (5.7) Place as identity and identification 240 (5.8) Conclusion 243 Chapter 6 Gentrification Matters (6.1) Introduction 246 (6.2) The visibility of gentrification in Ringsend 246 (6.2.1) Gentrification associated with new construction 247 (6.2.2) Gentrification associated with acquisition and upgrading of working-class housing 254 (6.2.3) An overview of the gentrification process in Ringsend 260 (6.3) Explaining gentrification in Ringsend 262 (6.3.1) A social/cultural explanation 263 (6.3.2) Gentrification within a broader economic context 269 (6.3.3) Gentrification: combining both social and economic explanations 273 (6.4) Class matters 274 (6.5) Gentrification as displacement and marginalisation 279 (6.6) Conclusion 284 Chapter 7 Community Matters (7.1) Introduction 291 (7.2) An exploration of community 292 (7.3) The meanings attached to community 295 (7.4) Gated ‘communities’? 302 (7.5) Community as an exclusionary practice? 306 (7.6) Social preservation within Ringsend 312 (7.7) Gentrification: A transient population? 317 (7.7.1) Transience and displacement: implications for community and sustainability 322 (7.8) Conclusion 327 Conclusion 331 Appendix One Letter distributed to residents in Ringsend 360 Bibliography 361 List of Tables/Figures Table 2.1 Employment in Dublin City, 1961-1996 98 Table 3.1 Tableof interviews 121 Figure 3.1 Outline of the steps taken in this qualitative research project 144 Table 4.1 Occupational change in Ringsend 171 List of photographs Plate 4.1 Ringsend Vllage 150 Plate 4.2 Boland’s Mill 157 Plate 4.3 Boland’s Mill looking from South Lotts 157 Plate 4.4 The Hibernian 175 Plate 4.5 The Clayton 175 Plate 4.6 The Alliance (Gasometer) 176 Plate 4.7 The interior of The Alliance (Gasometer) 176 Plate 4.8 Charlotte Quay Complex 178 Plate 4.9 The Millennium Tower 179 Plate 4.10 The Ocean Bar 179 Plate 4.11 Charlotte Quay 180 Plate 4.12 Charlotte Quay 181 Plate 4.13 View across the Grand Canal Basins from the Ocean Bar 2004 182 Plate 4.14 View across the Grand Canal Basins from the Ocean Bar 2005 183 Plate 4.15 View across the Grand Canal Basins from the Ocean Bar 2005 184 Plate 4.16 Gallery Quay 2005 184 Plate 4.17 The Watermarque 185 Plate 4.18 Grand Mill Quay 2004 186 Plate 4.19 Grand Mill Quay 2005 186 Plate 4.20 Camden Lock 187 Plate 4.21 Charlotte Quay Dock 187 Grand Canal Wharf 188 Whelan House 189 Whelan House and Portview Apartments 189 Camden Lock 190 Whelan House 191 South Lotts 2004 192 South Lotts 2004 193 South Lotts 2005 193 South Lotts 2005 194 South Lotts 2005 194 South Lotts 2005 195 South Lotts 2005 195 Boland’s Mill and Charlotte Quay 197 View across the Grand Canal Basins from the Ocean Bar 198 Billboard advertising The Gasworks 199 Ringsend Bridge 206 Introduction At the end of the twentieth century urban areas are vastly different from the metropolises of a hundred years earlier. Although some cities are the command centres of the global economy or nests of technological innovation, others have lost economic function even when they still encompass large populations....gentrified neighbourhoods adjacent to low-income areas display the emblems of affluence.... increasingly set of by walls and gates, sharpen the distinction between the haves and the have-nots. More and more people live in metropolitan areas, but even the most economically successful of these regions manifest sharply uneven development, (Fainstein and Campbell, 1996:2).