ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the claims that any transformation towards the 'postmodern city' can be tied to the operations of a designate class or class fraction who, more than any other social group, are concerned with the promotion of a 'postmodern lifestyle'. It argues that some of the claims made about 'gentrification' and the social groups involved are mostly over generalized, and that any characterization of this process must acknowledge the local context in these 'global transformations'. The chapter suggests that the attempt to tie the emergence of postmodern lifestyles to the distinction strategies of a particular class fraction may need to be seriously modified. It focuses on Sharon Zukin's account of the transformation of the landscape of the city centre, and her account of the activities of the cultural entrepreneurs. Local government needs a local cultural infrastructure with a specific expertise which gives it a relative autonomy from the circuits of abstracted global finance.
