Le droit au quartier et l’acceptation sociale de la gentrification: Les cas de deux processus de transformation urbaine à Nantes et Montréal

Abstract

Relatively few studies on gentrification address the case of those citizens who manage to stay in their neighbourhoods, even if they suffer from various forms of marginalization provoked by the gentrification process. In this article, we study their reaction based on the Exit, Voice, Loyalty framework proposed by Hirschman (1970), according to which the voice-loyalty pair has the best potential for converting a situation considered as unsatisfactory. We analyse the acceptability of gentrification through Hirschman’s possibilities of reaction, on the base of two cases: Madeleine-Champ-de-Mars in Nantes and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in Montreal. The former demonstrates the effectiveness of citizens’ mobilization within a context of collaboration while the latter illustrates the results of social mobilization within a context of confrontation. We assert that the expression of voice by residents, combined with political will, can mobilize citizens and initiate a process of negotiation and co-construction of the urban transformation favouring a socially acceptable gentrification. We also conclude that conflict plays an important role in establishing balanced negotiations between different stakeholders.