Paper short abstract:

Budapest's VIII. district is currently undergoing widespread and divergent forms of gentrification. This essays explores how the process plays out in the public places of one street through the analysis of urban rhythms.

Paper long abstract:

Budapest's VIII district is undergoing widespread and divergent forms of gentrification. The process is driven by the market, spurred on by middle-class resident's demands, mediated by the local state and administered by all of the above and more. These often global processes and their local effects are revealed through a rhythm-focused ethnography of one of the district's most well known streets. This 'rhythmanalysis' uncovers the temporal and spatial aspects of gentrification as well as everyday acts of resilience. The article concludes that 1) rhythmanalysis is a useful methodological tool for research into the multiple temporalities and spatialities of gentrification; and 2) it is constructive to explain the less than successful purification of the street's public places through the term 'everyday acts of resilience' as it a) metaphorically highlights the disaster like qualities of gentrification; b) focuses on the public acts of the body in space and time; and c) is clearly distinguishable from conscious acts of resistance.

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