Sensory Gentrification in the Most Beautiful City in the World

This article examines the dynamics of gentrification within the intersections of creative industries, urban (re)development, and social exclusion, with a focus on Ljubljana, Slovenia. It investigates the transformation of the Rog factory and its surrounding area—from an industrial site to an autonomous squatterzone and, finally, to a creative hub. Central to our analysis is the sensory dimension of urban regeneration. We introduce the concept of sensory gentrification to articulate the changing distribution of the sensible. Our argument posits the aesthetic, affective and sensory transformations implicated in gentrification as more than mere spatial rearrangements. Instead, we assert that the spatial rearrangements produce corresponding forms of social subjectivity. Through this lens, the paper shows how the gentrification of Rog recuperated the surplus politics of the squatting community—its anti-hegemonic political ideas and practices—incorporating them into the surplus value production of the newly established creative center.