Spatial and temporal characteristics of urban gentrification in mainland China: A systematic review
Urban gentrification in China, emerging in the late 20th century, has accelerated over the past decade alongside the country’s rapid modernization and urban transformation. Despite its growing prevalence, a systematic understanding of its spatial–temporal patterns, typologies, and socio-economic impacts remains limited. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a comprehensive synthesis of existing scholarship on urban gentrification in mainland China. Employing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework, the review analyzes peer-reviewed studies published over the past two decades to map thematic focuses, temporal trajectories, and spatial distributions, as well as to assess both positive and negative impacts. The findings reveal a scholarly progression from early conceptual adoption (circa 2005) to empirical diversification after 2010, with a marked surge in publications between 2015 and 2016. Empirical research remains geographically concentrated, with case studies in Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing accounting for nearly half of the literature. Five dominant forms of gentrification—new-build, tourism-led, commercial, studentification, and green—are identified. The Chinese trajectory is characterized by centralized urbanization, a demolition–reconstruction renewal model, and strong state-led governance. While these processes have enhanced land-use efficiency, block connectivity, and spatial openness, they have also intensified socio-spatial inequalities, cultural erosion, and rising living costs. This review not only consolidates fragmented knowledge but also underscores the need for spatially just and context-sensitive governance strategies to balance urban redevelopment with community rights.
Anguelovski, I., Connolly, J. J. T., Masip, L., & Pearsall, H. (2017). Assessing green gentrification in historically disenfranchised neighborhoods: A longitudinal and spatial analysis of Barcelona. Urban Geography, 39(3):458-491. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2017.1349987
Arkaraprasertkul, N. (2018). Gentrifying heritage: How historic preservation drives gentrification in urban Shanghai. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25(9):882-896. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1460732
Ascenso, E. (2018). Slum gentrification. In: L Lees and M Phillips (eds.). Handbook of Gentrification Studies. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 225-246.
Badcock, B. (2001). Thirty years on: Gentrification and class changeover in Adelaide’s inner suburbs, 1966-96. Urban Studies, 38(9):1559-1572. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980120080441
Bai, X., Zhang, Y., Wang, Q., Li, H., & Zhou, M. (2024). Spatio-temporal evolution and implications of urban residential space based on the new commercial housing in Xi’an, China, 2006-2022. Sustainability, 16(19):8495. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16198495
Bao, Z., Zhu, X., & Jin, J. (2012). The housing rights of citizens in the process of urban gentrification. Urban Problems, 3:2-9. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1002-2031.2012.03.001
Bonato, M. (2024). Semiotic ideology and mutable sense of place: Chinese ecological urban renewal through the lens of advertising codes. Political Geography, 115:103232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103232
Bridge, G. (2003). Time-space trajectories in provincial gentrification. Urban Studies, 40(12):2545-2556. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136200
Bridge, G., & Dowling, R. (2001). Microgeographies of retailing and gentrification. Australian Geographer, 32(1):93-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049180020036259
Bryson, J., & Wyckoff, W. (2010). Rural gentrification and nature in the old and new wests. Journal of Cultural Geography, 27(1):53-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631003593232
Burgess, J. (1996). Focusing on fear: The use of focus groups in a project for consumer culture research. Notes and Queries, 34(3):439. https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/ns-34.3.439
Bowlby, R. (1987). Just Looking: Consumer Culture in Dreiser, Gissing and Zola. Abingdon: Routledge.
Butler, T., & Lees, L. (2006). Super-gentrification in Barnsbury, London: Globalization and gentrifying global elites at the Neighbourhood level. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 31(4):467-487. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2006.00220.x
Cai, J. (2019). Ecological activity models of small groups and environmental transformation. Chinese and Foreign Architecture, 25(7):95-97. https://doi.org/10.19940/j.cnki.1008-0422.2019.07.031
Cai, R., Hu, L., & He, S. (2022). Policy-driven education-led gentrification and its spatiotemporal dynamics: Evidence from Shanghai, China. The Geographical Journal, 191:e12440. https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12440
Cai, W., & Shen, Z. (2024). Heterogeneity, differentiation mechanisms and social effects of urban residential space in China’s large cities: A case study of Wuhan. Land, 13(1):85. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13010085
Cameron, S. (2003). Gentrification, housing redifferentiation and urban regeneration: “Going for growth” in Newcastle upon Tyne. Urban Studies, 40(12):2367-2382. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136110
Cao, K., & Deng, Y. (2023). The impact and interactive effects of multi-level spatial policies on urban renewal: A case study of Shenzhen, China. Habitat International, 142:102952-102952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102952
Cao, L. (2022). Consuming “authenticity”? Reinterpreting the “new middle class” in China through the lens of retailing changes. Urban Studies, 60(3):00420980221107318. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980221107318
Caprotti, F., & Gong, Z. (2017). Social sustainability and residents’ experiences in a new Chinese eco-city. Habitat International, 61:45-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.01.006
Chari, S., & Gidwani, V. (2005). Introduction: Grounds for a spatial ethnography of labor. Ethnography, 6(3):267-281. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138105060758
Chen, C., Luo, Z., & Zhu, J. (2024). Rural gentrification, the booming B and B industry and linked migration in China: To what extent can gentrification contribute to rural revitalisation? Population, Space and Place, 30(8):e2827. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2827
Chen, L., & Li, X. (2023). Research progress on gentrification: Trends, debates and implications. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, (3):63-72. https://doi.org/10.19830/j.upi.2020.448
Chen, M., Wang, H., Hu, Z., Zhou, Q., & Zhao L. (2024). Heritage regeneration models for traditional courtyard houses in a northern Chinese city (Jinan) in the context of urban renewal. Sustainability, 16(18):8089. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16188089
Chen, X., et al. (2023). The Implementation Path of Urban Integration Strategy from the Perspective of Spatial Governance. In: Planning Empowerment - Proceedings of the 2023 Annual Conference on Urban Planning in China (02 Urban Renewal). [Conference Paper].
Chen, X., Zhang, L., Zhao, Z., Zhang, F., Liu, S., & Long, Y. (2023). Characterizing and Measuring the Environmental Amenities of Urban Recreation Leisure Regions Based on Image and Text Fusion Perception: A Case Study of Nanjing, China. Land, 12(11):1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12111998
Cheng, H., & Wang, B. (2021). Urban form characteristics and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of gentrification neighborhoods. Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology, 53(5):79-86.
Chung, H. (2020). Neighbourhood redevelopment and the making of a housing middle class: Can gentrification explain China’s spatial and social changes? GeoJournal, 86:1375-1388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10138-y
Curran, W. (2004). Gentrification and the nature of work: Exploring the Lins in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 36(7):1243-1258. https://doi.org/10.1068/a36240
Dai, X. (2007). Gentrification: An urban socio-spatial restructuring process. Journal of Urban Planning, 32(2):25- 31.
Darling, E. (2005). The city in the country: Wilderness gentrification and the rent gap. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 37(6):1015-1032. https://doi.org/10.1068/a37158
Dong, Y. (2016). The Space of Marxism Theory Horizon, the Urban Gentleman Movement, Studies [Master’s Degree Thesis, Fuzhou University). Available from: https://kns.cnki.net/ kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=cmfd201801&filename= 1017050019.nh
Downe-Wamboldt, B. (1992). Content analysis: Method, applications, and issues. Health Care for Women International, 13(3):313-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/07399339209516006
Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Wuhan”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/place/Wuhan [Last accessed on 2025 Oct 31].
Field, A. (2018). Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics. 5th ed. United States: Sage Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526445781
Gao, S., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., & He, H. (2017). Extracting urban functional regions from points of interest. Transactions in GIS, 21(3):498–514. https://doi.org/10.1111/tgis.12289
Glass, R. (1964). London: Aspects of Change. London, UK: Centre for Urban Studies and MacGibbon and Kee, 1964.
Gotham, K.F. (2005). Tourism gentrification: The case of new orleans’ vieux carre (French quarter). Urban Studies, 42(7):1099-1121. https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980500120881
Hamnett, C. (2003). Gentrification and the middle-class remaking of inner London, 1961-2001. Urban Studies, 40(12):2401- 2426. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136138
He, P., Liu, Q., & Chen, W. (2024). Empirical investigation into urban green growth coalition and green gentrification: A case study of Huangxing Park and century Park in Shanghai. Chinese Landscape Architecture, 40(9):124-130. https://doi.org/10.19775/j.cla.2024.09.0124
He, Q., & He, S. (2024). Disentangling the intersectional field of education and housing in China: Genesis, strategies and discontents. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(5):1462-1481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X241228453
He, S. (2010). New-build gentrification in central Shanghai: Demographic changes and socioeconomic implications. Population, Space and Place, 16(5):345-361. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.548
He, S. (2012). Two waves of gentrification and emerging rights issues in Guangzhou, China. Environment and Planning A, 44(12):2817-2833. https://doi.org/10.1068/a44254
He, S., Qian, J., Xu, Y., & Liu, B. (2012). Spatial-temporal evolution of rural gentrification amidst rapid urbanization: A case study of Xiaozhou Village, Guangzhou. Acta Geographica Sinica, 67(8):1044-1056. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb201208004
He, S. (2013). Un-gating the gated community: The spatial restructuring of a resettlement neighborhood in Nanjing. Cities, 31:263-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2012.10.005
He, S., & Liu, Y. (2010). Research on the mechanism and effects of urban gentrification in China during the market transition period. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 30(4):496-502. https://doi.org/10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2010.04.029
He, S., & Wu, F. (2016). Property-led redevelopment in post-reform China: A case study of Xintiandi redevelopment project in Shanghai. Journal of Urban Affairs, 27(1):1-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0735-2166.2005.00222.x
He, S., Qian, J., & Deng, S. (2011). Discussion on various gentrification phenomena in large cities during the transitional period: A case study based on six communities in Guangzhou. Human Geography, 26(1):44-49. https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2011.01.004
Hines, J. D. (2011). The post-industrial regime of production/ consumption and the rural gentrification of the new west archipelago. Antipode, 44(1):74-97. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2011.00843.x
Hsing, Y. T. (2010). The Great Urban Transformation: Politics of Land and Property in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof: oso/9780199568048.001.0001
Hu, W., & Lu, D. (2023). Educational opportunity and public rental housing choice of rural migrant families in Chongqing, China. Journal of Urban Affairs, 47:1620-1638. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2023.2237140
Huang, L., Peng, Y., & Wei, C. (2014). Reconstruction of environmental imagery of urban industrial heritage buildings from the perspective of “experience”. Architectural Journal, (S2):143-147.
Huang, X., & Liu, Y. (2021). Local practice of gentrification research in China: Features, issues and prospects. Human Geography, 36(3):5-14+36. https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2021.03.002
Huang, X., Liu, Z., & Wu, T. (2024). Mechanism and effect analysis of transnational gentrification in China’s big cities: A case study of the Korean community in Yuanjing Road, Guangzhou. Economic Geography, 44(4):64-74. https://doi.org/10.15957/j.carolcarrollnkiJJDL.2024.04.007
Huang, Y., & Luo, Z. (2025). Comparison and prospect of research on green gentrification at home and abroad: Visualization analysis based on CiteSpace. Buildings in the World, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.16414/j.a.20250221.001
Huang, Y., Hong, X., Yao, X., & Yin, M. (2024). Which characteristics represent the gentrification affected by parks? A case study in Nanjing, China. Ecological Indicators, 160:111862.
Jamshed, S. (2014). Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacy, 5(4):87-88. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.141942
Jiang, C., Xie D., Chen, H., &Chen, H. (2018), Tourism gentrification in historic district renovation: A case study of Lingnan Tiandi, Foshan. Tropical Geography, 38(4):586-597. https://doi.org/10.13284/j.cnki.rddl.003040
Jiang, W., Chen, K., & Ma, X. (2011). Research on spatial production in old city renovation in China: A case study of Xintiandi in Shanghai. Urban Development Studies, 18(10):84-89, 96.
Jorgensen, D. L. (2015). Participant observation. In: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. United States: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosp071.pub2
Kobayashi, A. (1994). Coloring the field: Gender, “race” and the politics of fieldwork. The Professional Geographer, 46(1):73- 80. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0033-0124.1994.00073.x
Lees, L. (2009). Urban renaissance in an urban recession: The end of gentrification? Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 41(7):1529-1533. https://doi.org/10.1068/a4275
Lefebvre, H. (1996). In: E Kofman and E. Lebas (eds.) (Trans.). Writings on Cities. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Li, P., & Liu, S. (2024). A review of new gentrification research: Concept analysis and driving mechanism. International Urban Planning, 39(5):43-51+119. https://doi.org/10.19830/j.upi.2022.332
Li, X., & Yeh, A. G. O. (2004). Analyzing spatial restructuring of land use patterns in a fast-growing region using remote sensing and GIS. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69(4):335- 354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.033
Lin, J., & Zeng, G. (2023). Effect and mechanism of green gentrification in the context of urban renewal: A case study of greening practices in urban agricultural parks. Progress in Geography, 42(5):914-926. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2023.05.007
Liu, F., Zhu, X., Li, J., Sun, J., & Huang, Q. (2019). Progress of gentrification research in China: A bibliometric review. Sustainability, 11(2):367. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020367
Liu, G., Chen, S., Gu, J. (2019). Urban renewal simulation with spatial, economic and policy dynamics: The rent-gap theory-based model and the case study of Chongqing. Land Use Policy, 86:238-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.04.038
Liu, G., Li, C., Zhuang, T., Zheng, Y., Wu, H., &Tang, J. (2022). Determining the spatial distribution characteristics of urban regeneration projects in China on the city scale: The case of Shenzhen. Land, 11(8):1210. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11081210
Liu, H. (2020). Urban Gentrification Spatial Pattern and Its Formation Mechanism in Ha [Master’s thesis, Harbin Normal University]. CNKI. Available from: https://kns-cnki-net.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbname=cmfd202101&filename=1020311472.nh
Liu, W., Yang, J., Gong, Y., & Cheng, Q. (2022). An evaluation of urban renewal based on inclusive development theory: The case of Wuhan, China. ISPRS International Journal of Geo- Information, 11(11):563. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11110563
Liu, X., Lu, F., Wang, X., Lu, D., & Yao, H. (2020). Research on the process and mechanism of rural gentrification in the peripheral areas of big cities: A case study of Da** Village in Wuhan. Urban Development Research, 27(9):33-41. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-3862.2020.09.005
Liu, Y., Li, Z., & Li, X. (2018). Making the “invisible” visible: Redevelopment-induced displacement of migrants in Shenzhen, China. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 42(3):483-499. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12646
Lu, J., Tao, W., & Lin, Q. (2023). Research progress of tourism gentrification: Theoretical context, research issues and paradigm innovation. Ecotourism in China, 31(5):740-761.
Ma, R., Wang, T., & Zhang, W. (2019). Dynamic mechanism of gentrification in Ningbo’s old industrial area from the perspective of creative regeneration. Acta Geographica Sinica, 74(4):780-796. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb201904010
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372:n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Pan, J., Cao, X., & Zhu, T. (2024). The modes and influence mechanisms of education in the county city: Based on the perspective of educational gentrification. Tropical Geography, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Song, W., Cao, H., Tu, T., Song, Z., Chen, P., & Liu, C. (2023). Jiaoyufication as an education-driven gentrification in urban China: A case study of Nanjing. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 33(5):1095-1112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2121-y
Song, W., Liu, C., Wang, Y., & Yuan, Y. (2017). Rent gap and gentrification in the inner city of Nanjing. Acta Geographica Sinica, 72(12):2115-2130. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlxb201712001
Sun, J., & Song, W. (2019). Literature review of foreign research on commercial gentrification and the enlightenment for Chinese studies. World Geographical Research, 30(5):1096-1105. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1004-9479.2021.05.2019592
Sun, M., & Chen, C. (2023). Renovation of industrial heritage sites and sustainable urban regeneration in post-industrial Shanghai. Journal of Urban Affairs, 45(4):729-752. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2021.1881404
Teo, S. S. (2024). Gentrification and its variegated emplacements: The politics of microregeneration in Shenzhen, China. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 114(6):1119-1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2023.2269341
The State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2025). China Pushes Forward with People-Oriented High-Quality Urban Development. Available from: https://english.www.gov.cn/ news/202507/17/content_ws6878e784c6d0868f4e8f43e4. html
Villani, C., & Talamini, G. (2021). Pedestrianised streets in the global neoliberal city: A battleground between hegemonic strategies of commodification and informal tactics of commoning. Cities, 108:102983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102983
Wang, C., Yang, S., He, J., & Liu, L. (2018). A study on the evolution of urban social space in Shanghai: Based on the dual dimensions of household registration and occupation. Geographical Research, 37(11):2236-2248. https://doi.org/10.11821/dlyj201811006
Wu, F. (2020). The state acts through the market: ‘State entrepreneurialism’ varieties of urban entrepreneurialism. Dialogues in Human Geography, 10(3):326-329. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620932630
Xia, Y., & Zhu, X. (2014). The negative impact of gentrification on low-income aborigines. Urban Problems, 33(5):92-96. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1002-2031.2014.05.015
Xu, J. (2016). Commercial renewal of historical and cultural blocks: A case study of Nanjing 1912 block. Architecture and Culture, (8):154-155.
Xu, Y., Wang, C., Zhang, T. T., Zhang, W., Liu, J. (2019). Review and prospect of research on tourism gentrification at home and abroad. Human Geography, 34(2):8-16. https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2019.02.002
Yang, X. S., & Xu, H. (2022). Producing an ideal village: Imagined rurality, tourism and rural gentrification in China. Journal of Rural Studies, 96:1-10.
Yu, S. (2017). Courtyard in conflict: The transformation of Beijing’s Siheyuan during revolution and gentrification. The Journal of Architecture, 22(8):1337-1365. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2017.1373106
Zhu, X., Zhou, Q., & Jin, J. (2004). Gentrification and urban renewal: A case study of Nanjing. Urban Development Research, 11(4):33-37. https://doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2023.050817