ABSTRACT
The term ‘gentrification’ was allegedly coined by sociologist Ruth Glass in her introduction to the 1964 publication, London: Aspects of Change, where in an almost throwaway remark, she referred to the profound changes occurring in some areas of working class London as ‘gentrification’. In other cities of Europe and North America, gentrification tends to take place in former industrial areas of the cities, and along waterfronts no longer used for commerce. London’s gentrification began in the low-rise housing stock peculiar to the capital. The Canonbury estate in Islington was developed with residential building along the same lines as most other areas of the borough. The development of Canonbury as a residential area began in earnest at the start of the nineteenth century, and although progress was uneven, terraces of varying sizes in the characteristic Islington style were built between Upper Street and Canonbury Road.
