Distinguish between suburbanization and gentrification. How has each process changed the cultural geography of the city?
Suburbanization is the net outflow of relatively well to city dwellers to the outlying suburbs. Gentrification is the reverse flow of relatively well to do suburbanites resettling the inner city. Each process has resulted in a new urban cultural geography. Suburbanization resulted in a sorting of the population by race, ethnicity, and class. Many wealthy white city residents moved to the suburbs leaving an inner city of greater diversity. Then the reverse flow of gentrification often resulted in the displacement of inner city residents — now often out to older suburbs!
