Norwegian gentrification - Urban life-style or practical reorganization of everyday life?

WHY HAVE CENTRAL AREAS IN NORWEGIAN CITIES become increasingly more popular as residential areas in recent years? Increased demand for inner city dwellings changes the social composition of the inhabitants in such areas, from lower to higher status groups. This phenomenon, "gentrification", seems to be an international trend. In order to explain gentrification, three different types of explanations have been suggested, related to economy/production, consumption/lifestyle and feminisation of the labour market. In this paper we discuss an alternative perspective, which takes as a point of departure that to live in central areas also may have important practical advantages. In the Organisation of everyday life, long distances between home and work, a mediocre public transport supply and time use in car queues are negative factors. Reduction of distances, "liberation" from motorized transport means and increased access to different sorts of service and activities, makes organisation of everyday life easier. Feminisation of the labour market makes such qualities even more important. Empirical results from a survey done in Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen in 2001 confirm that practical advantages are considered very important by inhabitants of the inner cities, but that they also value the urban qualities that the cities provide. The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway, Program for Urban Development.