Rérat, Patrick

2014-6-6, Rérat, Patrick, Jeannerat, Hugues

The mobility of highly qualified people is a major issue for regional development and represents a matter of particular concern for peripheral regions, which tend to be characterized by the out migration of their graduates (brain drain). While regional policies have traditionally focused on the labor market and framework conditions in order to foster territorial development, a new kind of instrument is emerging: the regional social network. This approach to policymaking no longer considers highly qualified people leaving their home region as a loss, but sees them as potential resources to be mobilized and capitalized at a distance. Based on six case studies, this paper elaborates a typology of regional social networks and analyzes their governance and management. It situates this new approach in a more general debate on regional innovation policies with regard to the specific needs of peripheral regions in a time of growing spatial mobility and the ubiquitous use of e-technologies.

2011, Rérat, Patrick, Rérat, Patrick, Piguet, Etienne

2010, Rérat, Patrick, Söderström, Ola, Piguet, Etienne

2009, Rérat, Patrick, Piguet, Etienne, Söderström, Ola

2011, Rérat, Patrick, Piguet, Etienne, Rérat, Patrick, Piguet, Etienne

2011, Rérat, Patrick, Jeannerat, Hugues

2010, Rérat, Patrick, Söderström, Ola, Piguet, Etienne, Besson, Roger

Gentrification represents an important aspect of the transformation of socio-demographic structures in many cities around the world. The definition of this concept has been extended in recent years to cover different processes of social upgrading and to incorporate a plurality of forms, protagonists, and spaces. The notion of ‘new-build gentrification’ is part of this process of redefinition. Because of its strong connections with global socioeconomic trends, the adoption of regeneration and densification policies along with the emergence of numerous new urban districts, Switzerland offers a particularly interesting case in which to study this specific form of gentrification. In this paper, we first provide an assessment of the residential attractiveness of Swiss core cities for the middle to upper class. We then study new housing projects in Zurich and Neuchâtel. Our focus on the actors involved in these projects brings original results to the debates surrounding the driving forces behind new-build gentrification. Empirical material is drawn from official statistics, questionnaires relating to inhabitant profiles, interviews concerned with the strategies of actors in the real-estate market, and planning policy documents.

2011, Rérat, Patrick, Piguet, Etienne

2010, Rérat, Patrick, Söderström, Ola, Piguet, Etienne

This special issue addresses the questions of gentrification and new‐build gentrification, two processes of urban transformation that significantly contribute to the reconfiguration of the socio‐demographic profile of populations in contemporary cities. Whereas gentrification has long referred to the physical and social transformation of central areas through rehabilitation of existing housing stock and population displacement by more affluent households, the concept has recently been extended to include new high‐status developments (regeneration of brownfield sites or demolition/reconstruction of existing residential areas). Although these new developments do not always cause direct population displacement, the question of the possible indirect consequences has been critically raised while the densification of the built environment appears as a favourable outcome in a context of environmental sustainability concerns. The papers collected in this issue focus on the emerging debates surrounding the new forms of gentrification, the increased residential attractiveness of core cities, and the actors who are involved or affected by these processes. In so doing it discusses the geography of gentrification, expanding analysis towards a wide range of contexts.

2009, Rérat, Patrick, Besson, Roger, Piguet, Etienne, Söderström, Ola, Pattaroni, L., Rabinovitch, A., Kaufmann, V.