What Is Gentrification All about - Essay Example

1 Gentrification What is Gentrification Through researching this phenomenon, one discovers that there is no finite definition of the term. The term was coined in 1964 by sociologist Ruth Glass when she used examples of London Districts as illustrations to define what the term meant: One by one, many of the working quarters of London have been invaded by the middle-class upper and lower. Shabby modest mews and cottages-two rooms up an two rooms down-have taken over, when their leases have expired, and become elegant, expensive residences [] once this process of gentrification starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the working class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character is changed. (Wikipedia) In the Encyclopedia of Housing it is defined as "the process by which central urban neighborhoods that have undergone disinvestments and economic decline experience a reversal, reinvestments, and the in-migration of relatively well off, middle and upper middle class population" (Smith) Then Hammel and Wyly difine gentrification as "the replacement of low-income, inner-city working class residents by middle-or upper -class households, either through the market for existing housing or demolition to make way for new up-scale housing construction: (Hammel) And the United States Department of Housing and Urban development defines gentrification as "the process by which a neighborhood occupied by low-income households undergo revitalization or reinvestment through the arrival of upper-income households". (HUD) Although there is no consensual definition for the phenomena, there are common 2 characteristics running through the core of each of the different definitions. (1) Central City neighborhoods, (2) populated by low-income households that have previously experienced disinvestments. And when we view the actual process of gentrification the predominant common thread and motivation point to, (3) influx or the relatively affluent or gentry and (4) an increase in investment. Friedmann who lays down a hypothetical framework on which to build a study of global cities, used one of his components to his seven part theory the emergence of a bifurcated (to divide into two branches) service industry in major cities, which is composed of on the one hand, a high percentage of professionals specialized in control functions and, on the other, a vast army of low-skilled workers engaged inpersonal services[that] cater to the privileged classes for those whose sake the city primarily exists. (Friedmann) In Amsterdam social cleansing seems to be the appropriate name for deliberate policies aimed at removing a section of the population-a criminal underclass, or those with low-incomes. It is often inspired by a belief that a city (and its administration) has failed, if such people live there. The emergence of active policies to change the population mix in an entire city is related to the neoliberal idea that cities are a sort of business, competing in a global market of cities, and that successful cities have successful inhabitants. Unlike gentrification, Social cleansing is always government initiated. However, in Amsterdam, it is difficult to discern the difference between the two in either stated purpose or actual implementation. Low income bans in Amsterdam is a legal instrument. The first phase of gentrification in Amsterdam is where art and culture are prominent-the first art gallery in a working class neighborhood is a classic sign of 3 imminent gentrification. Later these activities (and the associated population) may themselves be displaced-by an older high-income population, and by office uses. In the newest gentrification zone in Amsterdam, the northern docklands, this pattern has been institutionalized. To avoid the public outcry of foul, and the pressures of low-income and working class forced dispersal in Amsterdam the city engages in subterfuge, by making the move as an urban trend. It is said that in Europe, urban policy tends to follow the urban trend. But the question is, who initiates the trend In an article on gentrification in Amsterdam, titled westergasfabriek conversion, its authors describe the process thusly: An alternative arts center will be financed by the city, as a driver for redevelopment. After 10 years, when the redevelopment is complete, the lease will terminate, and the artists are officially expected to move on, to the next gentrification zone. (Hauptman) While the phenomena is satirically induced in cities like Amsterdam, in the case of cities like New York City, groups of pioneers moved out to areas like Park Slope or Williamsburg (in Brooklyn) or Hoboken, New Jersey, which were once run down, inner city neighborhoods, because Manhattan had become prohibitively expensive to live in. These areas had become desirable to yuppies and other hipsters because many saw them to have a bohemian atmosphere, thus beginning gentrification and increasing property values and rents. This often forced the original residents to move out to adjacent areas (such as Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn or Jersey City, New Jersey), Where the process may start again. It should be recognized that these predominately white artists, musicians, and 4 bohemians play a very significant role in the gentrification process, as it is they who "hippify" the area as they move into area populated by lower-income hipsters, people of color, and immigrants. Often pushing them out first in the process and this in turn later attracts the yuppies. In his last three components Friedmann addresses the increased immigration and the result of filling the increased demand. "The class and spatial polarization that results from this, and the inability of the global city to deal with these rapidly growing social costs is no mistake"(Friedmann) Friedmann places his vision of the global city squarely in the class context, a context which has been expanded on by Sassen and others. Gentrification cannot be separated from the economic climate in which it occurs. The advent of the new economy, with its phenomenal rise in service sectors jobs (both high and low paying) and its new more educated and more prosperous middle-class, has taken center stage in the gentrification discussion, especially as their jobs move and more from the suburbs and over periphery to the new economic core of banking and service activities that come to replace the older, typically manufacturing oriented, core. (Sassen) This has changed the city's' very economic scope, with old retailers who resided in this urban core and supplied goods to the traditional, yet now more scarce, blue collar middle class being replaced by up market boutiques and restaurants catering to a new high-income urban elite. (Sassen) The emergence of a service class, that is a group of people-generally between the ages of 25 and 35-with a high disposable income and service oriented jobs in the urban 5 core that they want to be close to, is one of the primary tenents of the consumption-side theory of gentrification. This emergence is partly a manifestation of the shift in much of the Western World from a manufacturing-based economy to a post-industrial, service based economy. Demographically speaking, western cities are seeing a growing percentage of 25- 35 year olds in the inner city (urban) core. Other demographic shifts are occurring as well; there is a lessening of gender divisions in labor, and people are waiting longer to get married and have children. Additionally, urban researchers are seeing an increase in the number of single women professionals living alone in gentrified areas. C. Widener presents an optimistic assessment of what the long term affects of gentrification could or should be like if those who are reclaiming the inner city will begin to rethink their role, he says: The resurgence in American cities commenced in the mid 70's, suddenly our cities are beginning to reflect the global model. People with money, power and influence are moving back into the centers of the cities, bringing with them visions of urban renewal and transformation. Neighborhoods are being transformed, culture revived, and the fragmented individualistic foundations of suburban living are appearing unsatisfying and unstable for many. This is very good news for our cities. Unless, that is if your are poor. Property values are rising, rents are doubling, taxes are soaring, city real estate is buzzing, and the inner city poor are feeling the crush of all this rather than the joys. Diaspora will occur-in which the poor will eventually be forced to leave the centers of the city and migrate to the suburbs. What we need is what Bob Lupton calls "gentrification with justice". In his book, Renewing the City, he writes, "We need gentry 6 who will use their competencies and connections to ensure that their lower-income neighbors have a stake in revitalizing the neighborhood through helping create innovative housing policies, helping pass tax ordnances that offer tax relief to residents who own homes, establishing loan funds that give down payments assistance, or actively pursuing land-banking strategy, we can work to ensure that the poor share in the benefits of gentrification rather than suffer from them. (Widener) If not an explicit intention of a cities redevelopment efforts, gentrification can be a by-product, particularly in cities with little vacant land or few unoccupied buildings. For all the benefits it can bring, gentrification can impose great financial and social costs on the very families and business owners who are least able to afford them. If development is to be equitable, if revitalization is to have the essential support of those living in neighborhoods targeted for assistance, if the outcomes of these investments are to benefit more than those moving into the city, decision makers in the public and private sectors must anticipate these potentially harmful effects and take effective and timely steps to mitigate them now, and into the future. A number of cities now experience gentrification in its many stages and intensities. However, it is important to point out that gentrification is not occurring across the country. Rather it tends to happen in cities with tight housing markets and in a select number of neighborhoods. Many cities are still starved for new residents and revenues. The movement of new middle-class residents into U.S. cities is a small counter trend; the dominant trend by far, is movement away from central cities towards the suburban periphery. While gentrification's scale and pace may vary across the country, it is re-emerging 7 for three basic reasons- First the nation's strong economy creates great demand for labor and housing at the regional level, and in some cases this makes the housing in central cities and some inner suburbs newly attractive to more higher income new comers. Second the federal government, states,cities and non-profit organizations increasingly have the motivation, the resources and the specific policy levers and the overall strategies to direct revitalization efforts in taegteted parts of central cities. Under some circumstances, these revitalization efforts can lead to gentrification. Third in response to the increased concentration of poverty in the urban core of our nations cities public officials seek to reduce these concentrations by attracting higher income families into high-poverty neighborhoods or by helping some poor residents to move to other portions of the metropolis where poverty is less concentrated. Either way these place-based and people-based strategies can result in gentrification. Works Cited Friedmann, J., The World City Hypothesis Hammel, D., J., Wyly, E., K., A Model for Identifying gentrification areas with Census Data, Urban Geography 17 (3): 248-68 Hauptman, P., Kamenicky, J., And Sykora, J., Changes in Soicial Structure in Prague and Brno in the 1970's Romanoff, Youth gentrification in Amstredam, A Classic Gentrification and Social Cleansing Project Sassen, S., On Concentration and Centrality in Global City, pp.63-65 Smith, N., gentrification In the Encyclopedia of Housing, edited by W. Van Vliet 189-99 U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1989, Whither or Whether Urban Distress, Working paprt, Office of Community Development and Planning and development, Washington, D.C. Widmer, C. Gentrification with Justice, November 30, 2005 [on line] available from http://www.typepod.com/t/trackback 3763461 Read More