Living cells use phase separation and concentration gradients to organize chemical compartments in
space. Here, we present a theoretical study of droplet dynamics in gradient systems. We derive the
corresponding growth law of droplets and
fi
nd that droplets exhibit a drift velocity and position
dependent growth. As a consequence, the dissolution boundary moves through the system, thereby
segregating droplets to one end. We show that for steep enough gradients, the ripening leads to a
transient arrest of droplet growth that is induced by a narrowing of the droplet size distribution.