ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the concept of 'eneralised gentrification' as a start, and then relates the question of the rent gap to worldwide processes of housing financialisation and the role of real estate investment in current definitions of public interest. It illustrates both of these concepts using the city of Berlin as an example. The chapter presents Neil Smith's different conceptions of gentrification and the rent gap, illustrating them simultaneously with different periods from Berlin's recent housing history. Since the advent of generalised gentrification seems to be related to a financialised accumulation system, it is relevant to analyse how rent gaps emerge in a financialised urban development. The relationship between global finance and housing provision has been the focus of the majority of urbanisation-related financialisation research. Finally, the chapter focuses on the question of interurban competition in finance-oriented accumulation and the discussion of its consequences.
