Diaz Presas Soc 330 Prof. Alonso June 1, 2016 Gentrification Around the World: What are the Results? Abstract In this paper, the effects of gentrification around the world are being examined. First, this paper looks at the effects of gentrification in the United States. Next, the pros and cons of gentrification are discussed. Then, with literature research, gentrification in different cities around the world are also discussed. Gentrification in the United States has a negative connotation and is highly associated with the displacement or eviction of low income families. After the research was done, it was found that the research was partially rejected. Although displacement and evictions were common …show more content…
outcomes because of gentrification, the way the residents reacted depended on how the government or city officials went about dealing with gentrifying and removing low income families from the areas. Introduction Gentrification in the United States, is a word with a negative connotation that associates it with the “removal” of low income families from urban cities. However, the definition of gentrification, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents”. Gentrification in the United States’ urban cities has been growing and seems to have no end. It has become a part of the way America is reinventing itself. As the superpower that the United States is, many other nations like to adopt the trends or tendencies of the American culture, society, and government. One can assume that there may be other nations adopting the idea of gentrification as well. Gentrification is an important matter to discuss and research because of the different impressions it has given the residents of whatever area is being gentrified. Now that it is growing in other countries as well, it raises many questions about what happens to the residents that are being displaced because of gentrification and of how gentrification has affected these residents. This leads to the hypothesis of: Is gentrification having the same negative effect in other countries around the world as it is in the United States? Literature Review First of all, one must look at the way gentrification has affected residents in the United States.
“Gentrification within cities has been attributed to an array of coalescing factors including the rise of a service economy, increasing preference for urban living, widening ‘rent gaps’, and growth of nontraditional households.” (P. Nelson & A. Oberg;2010) Gentrification does not necessarily have a positive demeanor when it comes to how the low income residents in these areas that are being affected by gentrification speak about it. To them, gentrification is just another way to discriminate and or segregate people based on socioeconomic status. “… the term gentrification within both urban and rural studies has been seen to signify a change in the social composition of an area with members of a middle-class group replacing working class residents”. (Nelson & Oberg, 2010) Before claiming that the only outcomes of gentrification are negative, there are also positive outcomes. Gentrification not only “beautifies” deteriorating neighborhoods but also bring with it other positive aspects. Gentrification brings in safer streets. “For 11 years, crime rates in L.A. have generally dropped, many argue as a result of gentrification…” (Tarvana & Simpson, 2015) For example, in Los Angeles, gang and crime activity has decreased significantly in areas that are now gentrified. Gentrifications helps with improving the economy. With gentrification comes job opportunities. The people that are …show more content…
investing are not only building condos with sky high rent costs, but are also building Starbucks, Whole Foods Markets, open air malls with name brand stores and this brings in money and new job opportunities and helps the economy. Obviously, these investments are not intended for the low income families that already live in these areas, but for the incoming, hip, middle and upper class residents that gentrification wants to appeal to. Those that support or are in favor of gentrification may also claim that desegregation is good for residents. “Gentrification offers [cities] a historic opportunity to create more diverse schools. In a sense, gentrification is multiculturalism - a type of community cohesion in the form, for example, of improved public transportation that connects the creative class with the working class.” (Tarvana & Simpson, 2015) Now we must see how gentrification has affected negatively American residents.
“Gentrification is white flight in reverse, but it's worse than that because it’s based on the belief that you're doing the right thing.” (Tarvana & Simpson, 2015) Gentrification brings with it displacement, eviction, police violence, and forced homelessness. Those that are against gentrification say gentrification is classist. Gentrification divides the rich from the poor, leaving those few low income residents who can somehow manage to afford the sky high housing costs pressured to adopt the rich lifestyle by living more quietly and neatly. Cities like San Francisco are “evicting lifelong residents of the once-poor Mission neighborhood to build palaces for tech millionaires.” (Tarvana & Simpson, 2015) Residents also say gentrification is a cycle that will never end and is also useless. Residents also end up unhappy. “Displacement is not the accidental and unintended side effect of gentrification, but its core,” says a 2011 German study on the subject. (Tarvana & Simpson, 2015) Violence will also increase. Tensions between police and low income residents in gentrified areas will rise and class conflict is
inevitable. So there are two sides to gentrification, but which side of the story is more prevalent? From the research done for this paper, it was found that the negative side of the story is more prevalent. Renters are turning to lawyers for help with fighting off the evictions or at least to receive some relocation benefits. “More than 50 people showed up at a tenant-rights workshop held by the Eviction Defense Network.” (Logan, 2014) Communities have come together to protest gentrification. “For instance, a number of oral histories referred to the large number of Latina/os being evicted and displaced.” (Mirabal, 2009) These low income minority communities feel these evictions and displacements are signs of racism. These people have nowhere to go and if they did, they do not want to leave the community and culture that has been their home for so long. “…displacement within this framework was conceptualized as a traumatic and disorientating experience that disrupted socio-psychological relationships such as home and place.” (Sims, 2015) So how is gentrification doing in other countries? Well, in Mexico City gentrification is moving at a snail’s pace. With the “resilience and resistance of street vendors who created formidable organizations allied with political parties to oppose displacing redevelopment, protested and rallied on an ongoing basis, reoccupied “rescued” spaces, partnered with small retail businesses also threatened by renovation.” (Betancur, 2014) They even managed to have those displaced accommodated. The vendors in Mexico City believe they are a part of Mexico’s Historic Center’s history. They believe that by removing or displacing them, it would be an act of removing a huge piece of history of that area. In Mexico City, even though government wants to gentrify areas of the city, it is very difficult to get things moving after the gentrification has been done. “Owners cannot find tenants for the pricier rehabbed units while residents lack the credit and income necessary to qualify for homeownership…” (Betancur, 2014) In London and Mumbai, gentrification has been picking up speed in past 15 years. “Lower Parel’s traditional chimney-filled skyline has been punctured by new brightly colored residential high-rises with many of its old industrial buildings, such as those of Phoenix Mills, demolished or converted to make way for shopping malls, office complexes and leisure facilities.” (Harris, 2008) people were obviously displaced because of this. This is evidenced by how, according to the 2001 Indian census, the Parel ward recorded the harshest decline of population of any census ward in Greater Mumbai. (Harris, 2008) Istanbul has been affected by gentrification for so m any years. Gentrification here has had different effects based on the area and community in which it is taking place. Some of the “buildings with historical value in the area are renovated and either still used for residential purposes (Kuzguncuk, Cihangir) or some of them are transformed from houses to commercial, recreational units, art galleries or ateliers (Ortaköy, Tünel, Galata).” (Ergun, 2003) In the area of Ortakoy, residents reacted negatively to the gentrification and in the areas of Kuzguncuk and Cihangir the residents actually “adopted” the gentrification process and also took part in the improvement of the area. “Spain was the most important European destination for transnational migration flows. Many of these migrants settled in inner city areas that were at the same time subject to renewal and gentrification.” (Janoschka, Salinas, & Sequera, 2014) In Amsterdam, gentrification was starting to spontaneously happen in the 1970’s. “ During the 1980’s and 1990’s, gentrification progressed in Amsterdam.” (Teernstra, Musterd, & Hochstenbach, 2014) What happens in Amsterdam is that local authority actually openly endorse gentrification as a positive policy tool. Gentrification works here because low income residents are protected against large rental increases. Those that do get displaced are compensated with an “urgency status”, which gives them “priority for a social-rental dwelling”, after the renovation or demolition of their home. (Teernstra, Musterd, & Hochstenbach, 2014) Cities all around the globe are experiencing gentrification. Yet, not all have had the same effect. Some areas within the same city have totally opposite effects and reactions to gentrification. Methodology Too find the research and information I needed for this paper I accessed the California State University, Los Angeles library database first. I searched for gentrification in Los Angeles, gentrification in Latin America, gentrification pros and cons, and gentrification around the world. Although, there were many sources to use and choose from, I struggled in determining which ones to use for this paper. I also used Google Scholar and it definitely helped me with searching information on gentrification around the world. I also used the readings that were assigned in my Sociology 330 class on the topic of gentrification. I feel the library database was a more effective research method for me. There I was able to narrow my results to journals only and also get results that had the full text available whereas, Google Scholar would give me more results but the results were abstracts only and to get the full text I had to pay. Results Based on my research, I found that gentrification can have either positive and/or negative effects on different areas or communities based on the areas circumstances and also on how government approaches the idea displacing its residents. The literature actually rejected partially my research question. In Mexico City, gentrification had the same negative effect on its residents as other cities in the United States. However, in areas like London, Mumbai, and Amsterdam there weren’t necessarily negative effects because the residents themselves participated in the gentrification process and or had governmental assistance to not be effected by gentrification. Discussion I feel that all in all, the way gentrification effects communities can be controlled by the government, whether it is local, state, or national government. Here in Los Angeles, investors are the ones that hike up the cost of everything including rent and there is no aid for these displaced families. In other cities, there is aid and assistance to help those displaced find a home. There is also laws that limit rent being raised for low income families. I feel that with this research more people should go out and instead of fully opposing gentrification, they should get together with the investors and government officials to think of a better way to gentrify without displacing, without discrimination and without classism. The United States has a lot to learn from other countries. Conclusion Furthermore, this research assignment changed my views on gentrification. I am now more interested in the topic and seeing that there are other alternatives to help gentrification happen without all the negative side effects, I want to dig deeper. This paper was a challenge for me because I wanted my question to be accepted and I started my research with a biased mindset. The more I read and learned about how gentrification is affecting other cities around the world I realized that the United States just has not figured out a way to get gentrification to fully work for both sides of the spectrum.
“Gentrification is a general term for the arrival of wealthier people in an existing urban district, a related increase in rents and property values, and changes in the district's character and culture.” (Grant) In layman’s terms, gentrification is when white people move to a black neighborhood for the sake of cheaper living, and in turn, raise up property values and force black neighbors to leave because of a higher price of living. Commonly, the government supports gentrification with the demolition of public housing in areas that are developing with more white neighbors. This is causing a decreasing amount of African Americans to be able to afford to live in the neighborhood as their homes are taken away from them, forcing them to relocate. Whilst gentrification normally has negative connotations, there are several people who believe gentrification brings about “an upward trend in property values in previously neglected neighborhoods.” (Jerzyk) On the other hand, this new trend in property value and business causes those...
Another noteworthy urban sociologist that’s invested significant research and time into gentrification is Saskia Sassen, among other topical analysis including globalization. “Gentrification was initially understood as the rehabilitation of decaying and low-income housing by middle-class outsiders in central cities. In the late 1970s a broader conceptualization of the process began to emerge, and by the early 1980s new scholarship had developed a far broader meaning of gentrification, linking it with processes of spatial, economic and social restructuring.” (Sassen 1991: 255). This account is an extract from an influential book that extended beyond the field of gentrification and summarizes its basis proficiently. In more recent and localized media, the release the documentary-film ‘In Jackson Heights’ portrayed the devastation that gentrification is causing as it plagues through Jackson Heights, Queens. One of the local businessmen interviewed is shop owner Don Tobon, stating "We live in a
There are many examples of cities reforming itself over time, one significant example is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. More than a hundred years after the discovery of gold that drew thousands of migrants to Vancouver, the city has changed a lot, and so does one of its oldest community: Downtown Eastside. Began as a small town for workers that migrants frequently, after these workers moved away with all the money they have made, Downtown Eastside faced many hardships and changes. As a city, Vancouver gave much support to improve the area’s living quality and economics, known as a process called gentrification. But is this process really benefiting everyone living in Downtown Eastside? The answer is no. Gentrification towards DTES(Downtown Eastside) did not benefit the all the inhabitants of the area. Reasons are the new rent price of the area is much higher than before the gentrification, new businesses are not community-minded, and the old culture and lifestyle of the DTES is getting erased by the new residents.
Older gentrification is issued onto poor black communities to increase white supremacy in the area and improve living conditions in the so called “hood.” After Older proposed his thoughts on Gentrification being an issue in colored low-income neighborhoods, he then turns to criticizing another writer with a different point of view on the issue. The author of “Is Gentrification All Bad?” in an article in the New York Times explains his views on gentrification. Older places emphasis on one of Davidson’s claim on “sweet spots” in the community saying “Davidson talks of a “sweet spot”: some mythical moment of racial, economic harmony where the neighborhood stays perfectly diverse and balanced.” (Older 358) The author does not support this claim as to being logical in his sense. Older’s views represents an opposite approach on the same issue of gentrification. In another quote “The gears are all already in place, the mechanisms of white supremacy and capitalism poised to make their moves.” (Older 358) the author speaks on how white people are over taking the poor colored communities to improve their lives, but not thinking about the consequences of the affected
Gentrification makes way for safe neighborhoods that were once considered to be unsafe because of crime. Areas such as Echo Park, East LA, and Bed-Stuy, once notorious for being some of the most dangerous places in the United States are now safer than ever because of the changes brought by gentrification. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “…gentrification can cause an initial increase in crime because neighborhood change causes destabilization, although in the long run gentrification leads to a decline in crime as neighborhood cohesion increases.” (2016, HUD USER). The arrival of new members of the community and the changes they bring creates unrest in the form of crime.
In contrast to the negatives of gentrification, some people view gentrification as a the only effective way to “revitalize” low-income urban communities. In the article, “Gentrification: A Positive Good For Communities” Turman situates the piece around the opinion that gentrification is not as awful as the negative connotation surrounding it. Furthermore, he attempts to dispel the negative aspects of gentrification by pointing out how some of them are nonexistent. To accomplish this, Turman exemplifies how gentrification could positively impact neighborhoods like Third Ward (a ‘dangerous’ neighborhood in Houston, Texas).Throughout the article, Turman provides copious examples of how gentrification can positively change urban communities, expressing that “gentrification can produce desirable effects upon a community such as a reduced crime rate, investment in the infrastructure of an area and increased economic activity in neighborhoods which gentrify”. Furthermore, he opportunistically uses the Third Ward as an example, which he describes as “the 15th most dangerous neighborhood in the country” and “synonymous with crime”, as an example of an area that could “need the change that gentrification provides”. Consequently, he argues with
Inner City Communities are often areas which are both densely populated and deteriorating(quote). The areas and its residents have strongly been correlated with social and economical disparity. Residents of inner city communities have been plagued with problems including: “high unemployment, poor health care, inadequate educational opportunities, dilapidated housing, high infant mortality, and extreme poverty” (Attitudes and Perceptions, n.d). Though the inner city communities have been stricken with
There has been a tremendous change in East Harlem between class warfare and gentrification. East Harlem is one more economic factor to the city’s wealth per capita since the attack of September 11, 2000. It is Manhattan’s last remaining development and it is on the agenda of the tax revenue of our government. East Harlem has become a profit driven capitalism. Gentrification enforces capitalism, it does not separate people, it does not go against race, poor and the working class, it wages war on the poor and the working-class.
... motivation for wealthy individuals to return to the inner-city core but it also provides impetus for commercial and retail mixed-use to follow, increasing local revenue for cities (Duany, 2001). Proponents of gentrification profess that this increase in municipal revenue from sales and property taxes allows for the funding of city improvements, in the form of job opportunities, improved schools and parks, retail markets and increased sense of security and safety ((Davidson (2009), Ellen & O’Reagan (2007), Formoso et. al (2010)). Due to the increase in housing and private rental prices and the general decrease of the affordable housing stock in gentrifying areas, financially-precarious communities such as the elderly, female-headed households, and blue-collar workers can no longer afford to live in newly developed spaces ((Schill & Nathan (1983), Atkinson, (2000)).
With the rapid development of the city and tremendous progress of technology in America, gentrification becomes a universal phenomenon in every city, especially in Englewood―the south side of Chicago. As capital begins to flow into the Englewood community, many aspects of daily life are changed for better. The tremendous change brings not only the renovated facilities but arrives with the new retail and service business. Plenty of citizens who live in the Englewood community were benefiting from the gentrification. They also said that gentrification is a commendable change in Englewood to renew and develop. Thus, gentrification is beneficial to local residents because it arrives with the new retail and service business, increases employment opportunities and transform a more beautiful community.
Gentrification is defined as the process by which the wealthy or upper middle class uproot poorer individuals through the renovation and rebuilding of poor neighborhoods. Many long-term residents find themselves no longer able to afford to live in an area, where the rent and property values are increasing. Gentrification is a very controversial topic, revealing both the positive and negative aspects of the process. Some of the more desirable outcomes include reduced crime rate, increased economic activity, and the building of new infrastructures. However, it is debated whether the negatives overwhelm the positive. An increase in the number of evictions of low-income families, often racial minorities can lead to a decline of diversity
In discussions of Gentrification, one controversial issue has been with displacement. Gentrification is the process of renovating and repairing a house or district so that it complies to wealthier residents (Biro, 2007, p. 42). Displacement is a result of gentrification, and is a major issue for lower income families. Gentrification is causing lower-income residents to move out of their apartments because they’re being displaced by upper class residents who can afford high rent prices and more successful businesses. Throughout out the essay, I will discuss how gentrification affects lower income residents and how it results in displacement. Then I will follow on by discussing some positive and negative effects that take place because of Gentrification.
Gentrification is described as the renovation of certain neighborhoods in order to accommodate to young workers and the middle-class. For an area to be considered gentrified, a neighborhood must meet a certain median home value and hold a percentage of adults earning Bachelor’s degree. Philadelphia’s gentrification rate is among the top in the nation; different neighborhoods have pushed for gentrification and have seen immense changes as a result. However, deciding on whether or not gentrification is a beneficial process can become complicated. Various groups of people believe that cities should implementing policy on advancing gentrification, and others believe that this process shouldn’t executed. Both sides are impacted by the decision to progress gentrification; it is unclear of the true implications of completely renovating impoverished urban areas; gentrification surely doesn’t solve all of a community’s issues. I personally believe that gentrification is not necessarily a good or bad process; gentrification should occur as a natural progression of innovative economies and novel lifestyles collide within certain areas. Policy involving gentrification should not support the removal of people out of their neighborhood for the sake of advancement.
Lance Freeman tackles the issue of gentrification from the perspectives of residents in the gentrified neighborhood. He criticizes the literature for overlooking the experiences of the victims of gentrification. The author argues that people’s conceptions on the issue are somewhat misinformed in that most people consider it as completely deplorable, whereas in reality, it benefits the community by promoting businesses, different types of stores, and cleaner streets. These benefits are even acknowledged by many residents in the gentrified neighborhood. However, the author admits that gentrification indeed does harm. Although gentrification does not equate to displacement per se, it serves to benefit primarily homeowners and harm the poor. Additionally,
Gentrification is designed to improve the quality of life for the residents, but the fact is that it pushes out old residents to welcome in young and wealthy citizens. To analyze the demographic even further, gentrified neighborhoods in New York City have seen an increase in white population despite a city wide decrease. As Kate Abbey-Lamertz of the Huffington Post states, “The report notes that change is driven by educated people moving in, rather than by existing residents becoming more educated.” These changes are being driven by a millennial demographic who can afford the changed aesthetic. The influx of millennials are pushing out families whose lifestyle can’t keep up with the changing demographic. Even though these changes have been occurring for almost thirty years, and the city hasn’t made the changes needed for people who need low income housing. New York City’s gentrification must be slowed in order for people in low income housing to catch