Resisting practices against State-led gentrification in San Lorenzo, Rome

Abstract

The study analyses resistance practices at a neighbourhood level, exploring the anti-gentrification practices and discourse within a specific geographical context, more specifically in San Lorenzo, Rome. Since its beginnings, this area has been inhabited by working class people and featured by great political participation, social activism and anti-fascism movements. The gentrification of San Lorenzo has been policy-led and characterised by a massive privatisation of public spaces, turning them into places of consumption and tourism. A qualitative approach has been used to investigate individuals´ perceptions of their own neighbourhood and related challenges caused by gentrification and speculation as well as their needs. Through discourse analysis, participatory mapping and semi-structured interviews, three sub-questions have been answered and the main research question has thus been met. This study has also been conducted within a participant observation framework since I have been an activist in San Lorenzo for almost three years. The triangulation research methods helped to minimise the risk of generating erroneous findings while strongly increasing the coherence among data.