Recent Trends and Debates Concerning the Process of Gentrification in Contemporary Cities - Case Study Example

Running Head: Recent Trends and Debates Concerning the Process of Gentrification in Contemporary Cities0725899907 Recent Trends and Debates Concerning the Process of Gentrification in Contemporary Cities Insert Name Insert Grade Course Insert Tutor’s Name 19 October 2010 Outline Introduction Forms of Gentrification Theories explaining the process of gentrification Recent Trends and Debates Impacts of gentrification Economic importance of gentrification Conclusion Reference List Recent Trends and Debates Concerning the Process of Gentrification in Contemporary Cities Introduction Gentrification refers to the process of social-spatial change whereby residential property owned by a working class is rehabilitated by some upper or middle class incomers leading to increased cost of housing thus displacing those who cannot afford the rents (Pacione, 2005, pg 212). It involves buying and renovation of buildings in old and deteriorated urban neighborhood by upper or middle-income individuals. This process leads to displacement of low-income individuals and those carrying out small businesses and increase in property value. It is mostly brought about by decentralization and suburbanization. This phenomenon affects the physical, social, economic, ad cultural outlook of an urban centre in the process of adapting to the changing classes of individuals. The recent trends and debates show that most urban centers are taking the loft conversion form of gentrification. Middle calss households and professional groups are replacing the lower income working class community. Private investor are demolishing older and deteriorated apartments while putting up better residential houses which low income households cannot afford thus forcing them to relocate to other places. In most countries, the government has also come up with an urban renewal project in the effort to improve the face of its cities. The current trend of gentrification in the world is because of the following four fundamental changes. 1) The initial and more common gentrifies of late are the corporate developers. 2) The state through forums like urban renewal is directly influencing gentrification more than in the past. 3) Anti-gentrification social movements have been marginalized within the urban political sphere. 4) The land economics of different areas of the country emphasize on certain inner city investment accelerating change in certain types of city neighborhood (Sociology Books, 2010). The common incoming figures are the highly educated, highly skilled and the highly paid residents. Globalization and its consequences have accelerated the rate of gentrification since it has brought about advanced transport, communication, and information technology thus enhancing political, economic, and cultural convergence. Globalization leads to gentrification whereby it influences forums of city renewal and initiatives of rebuilding the inner city (Warren, 2008). Forms of Gentrification The classic form of gentrification occurs in an initially middle class residential area mostly in the central city when its former occupant’s salary rises or when they start establishing families. In this case, the middle class individual status rises to an upper class; they shift to better place and leave these houses to a lower income class. Since the income of the new households cannot cater for renovation and reinvestment, the central city undergoes significant deterioration attracting households of even lower income leading to congestion. Large houses are subdivided into rental rooms and due to low rental profits; landlords tend to do away with renovation thus accelerating the process of deterioration. Eventually, the houses deteriorate to a point of abandonment calling for the process of gentrification (Pacione, 2005, pg 212). The other form of gentrification is known as loft conversion and mainly takes place in mixed district. This is the most common form of gentrification in the contemporary cities whereby, as individual income continue to rise, they are improving on their residential areas by either renovating the current housing or building better residential premises. It also refers to a situation whereby the government comes up with urban renewal project by demolishing or rehabilitating the older buildings to improve the face of its urban centers (Pacione, 2005, pg 213). Theories explaining the process of gentrification There are two theories that explain the process of gentrification and have been very evident in the recent trends and debates concerning the process of gentrification in contemporary cities. They are the consumption side theory and the production side theory and each has its pros and cons. (Clarke, et al, 2003, pg 85. Pacione, 2005, pg 213) The consumption side theory: In this theory, the households moving in and out are the major factors that account for neighborhood change. The recent trends in gentrification have had a lot of impact in the cultural change of the neighborhood. This theory bases gentrification on eviction of the low-income working class from the residential houses by middle class individuals as they renovate and reinvest in better residential and businesses. This theory puts much emphasis on social and cultural effects associated with gentrification and thus fails to convince fully since culture is not the major and dominating factor in residential relocation (Clarke, Doel & Housiaux, 2003). Production side theory: This theory is based on the government efforts in the process of urban renewal and the importance and the role of financial institutions in financing urban rehabilitation. Gentrification in this case is accelerated by rent gap whereby there is a big difference between the actual rent and the potential ground rent. It happens when renovation and reinvestment has been neglected for a long time leading to extreme deterioration thus creating a big gap between the actual rent and the potential ground rent. This kind of situation attracts investors or the state to purchace the structures at a cheap price, rehabilitate them and then occupy them or invest in real estate to realize their expenditure. This theory in one way explains why gentrification occurs in some places but it is not exclusive because it does not explain when it occurs and why it happens in some neighborhoods but not others (Translation Localization Globalization, 2010). Recent Trends and Debates It has been noted that the major group of gentrifies include small middle class households, mostly unmarried, they may be childless if married, below age of 35, working in prestigious places and are highly educated. They mostly work as professionals, administrators, technical officers, or managers. The rising number of women in the job market and dual career couples has greatly supplemented income in most household thus improving their living standards resulting to a need to stay in prestigious apartments. The other group influencing gentrification in many contemporary cities include the rising number of gay families especially after it has been publicized and made legal in most developed countries, increase of small households for bachelors, influence of social status in life cycle and globalization (Rerat, Söderström, Piguet & 2009). However, recent years have had a heated debate over the meaning of gentrification and most people have put more weight on the classic form (Munt, 1987). Let us look at examples of gentrification of different cities in the world. Washington DC: District of Columbia has experienced economic prosperity in the last few years that has lead to some a lot of effect to the local housing market. According to statistics, it has been found out that the rate of rents has been rising, vacancy rates are going down, and a significant number of young professionals are settling in the inner city. There are increasing numbers of middle and upper income individuals settling in the city neighborhood, which is projected to improve the district economic and fiscal health. However, low-income individuals and households are experiencing challenges since they cannot find affordable housing in the city and most of them have ended up being displaced by these affluent classes of people (Rubin, 2002). The Washington DC agenda is to create equitable development initiative, which emphasizes that the city government alone cannot curb the prevailing challenge of providing affordable housing and preventing displacement. Their vision is to come up with a long-term plan that will facilitate equitable development, affordable housing, and creation of wealth. This is because the city has been on an affordable housing dilemma within the city (Rubin, 2002). For the last five years, the District of Columbia has been able to make significant progress concerning gratification, which has brought about positive as well as negative effects. For instance, housing demand has risen so much resulting to rising in house rents such that low-income individuals can hardly afford the rents. This has resulted to relocation and displacement of low-income individuals living in this neighborhood though some have had their income rising thus remaining in the same neighborhood. Harlem: Harlem is a section of Manhattan in New York and contains one of the largest concentrations of black Americans in the United States. Gentrification has become an increasingly persuasive and common occurrence in New York. Reinvestment and redevelopment of urban residential apartments coupled with restructuring of social, political, and economic arenas has had a great impact on the physical landscapes of the cities together with their cultural and economic geographies. This kind of gentrification in Harem has caused recentralization of some professional and increase in cultural and recreational facilities thus acting as a good place for tourists (Smith, 2005, pg 136). The mode of housing in Harlem has been poor for a long time whereby a Jeannette Davis, a 58-year old woman living in Harlem was reported in New York Daily news saying sanitation in their apartments was very poor. However, in 2009, her building and several others were to undergo renovation by the Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund through the department of housing and urban development (Casanova-Burgess, 2009). Cabbagetown: This was once one of the poorest neighborhoods in Toronto but has now been gentrified and the new face is now characterized by high-class Victorian homes, friendly neighborhood pubs, and is currently hosting the best cafes in the city. It is currently serving as the best example of gentrification in local housing markets. The process of gentrification in cabbagetown began in 1969 when there was recorded a significant entry of middle class households in to the town coupled with a remarkable number of property sale. Housing prices have been rising gradually since then while the rate of property ownership has been declining as these middle class households continue investing. The success story of gentrification in Cabbagetown has influenced other towns like Shaughnessy village to invest in this kind of development (Ley, 1996, pg 58). South Africa: Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa, located in the wealthiest province of Guateng in the country. It has a population of about three million people, which accounts for about sixteen percent of the countries GDP. George Harrison founded Johannesburg in 1886 based on the discovery of Gold in the country. Due to Apartheid in South Africa, black people were locked out of the town and this made Johannesburg remain a commercial stronghold and a symbol of white might in the country. In 1980’s, these restrictions were loosened and thousands of blacks in migrated to the town in search of jobs and homes. Johannesburg became overcrowded and blacks forcing them to relocate their commercial affairs to the Northern surbarbs outdid the white minority. The police lost control of the town, crime increased and the city started deteriorating (Docshare, 2010). However, the government has recently started restructuring Johannesburg by such activities as putting CCTV connected to police stations to help curb crime and setting up tax breaks and city safaris to investors who remained in the city to help them develop the cheap properties. There has been a remarkable impact of gentrification in the city such that crime rate has dropped with over 80%, cheap apartments have been replaced with prestigious apartments and condominium, good cars such as BMW’s are very common in the street, etc (Docshare, 2010). In Cape Town, there has been massive development in the recent years. Gentrification process has been taking place tremendously but certain areas have been neglected. For instance, Adderly Street has for a long time been housing the finest retailers in the SA CBD but has now turned out to be a string of low-end takeaway and a train terminus has overtaken The Golden Acre. This has been as a result of emergence of various first world shopping places (Philip, 2007) Impacts of gentrification It affects an area demographics since as middle income individuals and families move in and renovate houses and businesses, there is an overall decline in racial minorities. There is a general decrease in the size of households since young families, young couples, and single people who want to be closer to their jobs (Briney, 2010) replace the low-income working class. Increase in property value increases the rents and home prices leading to eviction thus affecting the real estate market and altering land use. Initially, these areas are composed of low-income housing and light industries, but once gentrification occurs, the features of the estate changes to high-end still houses, offices, retail restaurants and many other entertainment joints. The new lifestyle has a big impact on the areas culture and character and there is a significant difference in culture between such places and low-income residential places (Briney, 2010). In political arena, there is a conflicting impact of gentrification on the voters turn out. In one way, it is predicted that it may lead to an increased turn out probably because of increased grass root activism. Normally, people in more affluent areas tend to participate more in voting than people in low class neighborhood and still the educated and the affluent people have pressure that is more social, and they are given more opportunities to participate by themselves. On the other hand, gentrification may decrease people turn out when it comes to voting. For instance, urban gentrification makes it difficult for people to socialize fully and be united thus social influences is very minor leading people to look down upon public matters (Knotts, 2006). Economic importance of gentrification Gentrification is a process that has its own pros and cons. (Atkinson & Bridge, 2005) On the positive side, gentrification has greatly improved the face of many contemporary cities due to building of high-class apartments, has lead to the increase of income tax as housing revenue increases, and has reduced crime in many cities due to decline in overcrowding. On the negative side, gentrification has lead to dislocation of many working class people and poor and this group finds it difficult to find affordable housing in the contemporary cities. It has also lead to rise in house rents resulting to too much housing expenses on the residents. The increased rental rates have also lead to increased cost of commodities as entrepreneurs try to realize their expenses through raising the prices of goods (Translation Localization Globalization, 2010, Rameau, 2008). Conclusion The recent trends of gentrification in contemporary cities have been so close among different towns in the world. The major cause of gentrification has been the dislocation of working class by the middle class who have acquired prestigious highly paying jobs in town thus enabling them to seek accommodation near their jobs. Statistics have shown that most of these middle class individuals are young educated individuals with small households or without families. Gentrification has had a big impact in contemporary cities in the recent years and has completely changed the face of the cities. The old deteriorated apartments have either been renovated or demolished to pave way for newer and better apartments. It has also widened the social gap since only a certain class can afford the housing near the town centers whereas the rest have been forced to the suburbs. However, this process has greatly improved the conditions of the contemporary cities. Reference List Atkinson, R., Bridge, G., 2005. Gentrification in a global context: The New Urban Colonialism. Oxon, Routledge. (Online) Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=eNrodEJwbqEC&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed November 19, 2010). Briney, A., 2010. Gentrification. (Online). Available from: http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/gentrification.htm (Accessed November 18, 2010). Casanova-Burgess, A., 2009. Affordable housing units in Harlem will become the first green block in nation. (Online). Available from: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/11/22/2009-11-22_affordable_housing_buildings_in_bronx_will_be_the_first_green_block_in_nation.html (Accessed November 18, 2010). Clarke, D., Doel, M. & Housiaux, K., 2003. The consumption reader. Ontario, Routledge. (Online). Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=itkOHXlZui0C&dq=recent+trends+and+debates+concerning+the+process+of+gentrification+in+contemporary+cities&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Accessed November 18, 2010). Docshare. 2010. Gentrification in South Africa. (Online). Available from: http://www.docshare.com/doc/107864/Gentrification-in-South-Africa (Accessed November 18, 2010). Knotts, G., 2006. The Impact of Gentrification on Voter Turnout. (Online). Available from: http://www.radicalmath.org/docs/GentrificationVoterTurnout.pdf (Accessed November 18, 2010). Ley, D., 1996. The new middle class and the remaking of the central city. New York, Oxford University Press. (Online). Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=TrmLdS4KYpoC&pg=PA73&dq=(ley,1996)-gentrification&hl=en&ei=1hPmTPDyNoHOswbg5PieCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQuwUwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=true (Accessed November 18, 2010) Munt, I., 1987. Economic restructuring, culture, and gentrification: a case study in Battersea, London. (Online). Available from: http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=a191175 (Accessed, November 19, 2010). Pacione, M., 2005. Urban geography: a global perspective. New York, Routledge. (Online). Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=oCMFY_ZaqTcC&dq=Theories+of+gentrification&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Accessed November 17, 2010) Philip. 2007. Gentrification of Cape Town train station. (Online). Available from: http://www.southafricalogue.com/travel-tips/gentrification-of-cape-town-train-station.html (Accessed November 18, 2010). Rameau, M., 2008. Take Back the Land: Land, Gentrification, and the Umoja Village Shantytown. Miami, Nia Press. (Online). Available from: http://books.google.com/books?id=GbH2Lq9KLywC&printsec=copyright#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed November 18, 2010). Rubin, M., 2002. Equitable Development in Washington DC. (Online). Available from: http://www.neighborhoodinfodc.org/pdfs/equitable-development-report.pdf (Accessed November 18, 2010) Sociology Books, 2010. Gentrification. (Online). Available from http://sociologyindex.com/gentrification.htm (Accessed October 10, 2010) Rerat, P., Söderström, O & Piguet, E., 2009. Population, Space and Place. Switzerland, Wiley InterScience. (Online). Available from: http://www.nfp54.ch/files/nxt_projects_80/03_02_2010_04_46_03-Reratetal.pdf (Accessed November 18, 2010) Rerat, P., Söderström, O & Piguet, E., 2009. New-Build Gentrification Forms, Places and Processes. University of Neuchâtel. (Online). Available from: http://www2.unine.ch/webdav/site/maps/shared/documents/manif/2007_11_15-16_book_of_abstracts.pdf (Accessed November 18, 2010) Smith, N., 2005. The New Urban Frontier. New York, Routledge. Warren, R., 2008. Twenty-First Century Globalization: Impact of Gentrification on Community. (Online). Available from: http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/36181628/TWENTYFIRST-CENTURY-GLOBALIZATION-IMPACT-OF-GENTRIFICATION-ON-COMMUNITY-HEALTH# (Accessed November 18, 2010). Translation Localization Globalization. 2010. Gentrification. (Online). Available from: http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Gentrification#Consumption-side_theory (Accessed November 18, 2010) Read More