How City Changes and Gentrification Excludes People

Changes in cities, communities and neighborhoods are inevitable because they have evolved and changed since the dawn of civilization. Urban migration and gentrification mostly happen when wealthier people move to historically less wealthy neighborhoods, and people have different opinions on the matter. Using Whitehead’s “We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found” and Arieff’s “Designing the Inclusive City,” this article explores how gentrification and changes in the city cause some individuals, especially poor individuals. He argues that this ambiguous process can be considered a social problem from a social justice perspective.

Analysis of a US Census Bureau survey and demographic data on gentrification activity shows that activists in many communities have long reported how gentrification is driving people out of their neighborhoods. Arieff argues in his article that “either banks are removed, sprinklers are installed, and sit-in laws are passed to keep certain people out, while policies to help educate, house, or care for those people are inadequate and underfunded” (2000). This shows that the policies adopted do not aim to help people who may be affected by gentrification, but rather to keep them away by introducing laws such as the anti-homelessness strategy, which removes places from cities to push people out of certain areas. In his description of gentrification in New York, Whitehead also says “go back to the old haunts of your old neighborhoods and what do you find: they are left and gone” (23). It shows the rapid change taking place and how quickly gentrification replaces old memories and wreaks havoc on the city. Gentrification usually offers a new narrative of urban development. Despite this, downtown displacement poses a potential threat to long-term residents who may be at risk of relocation. So the story of the recession continues in a different form.

The forms of transfer of individuals can be direct or indirect. For example, rent increases or evictions when landlords focus on increasing the value of their houses. Adding or evicting someone en masse is a direct form of displacement because the high cost prevents people from getting local housing. This is one of the most important means of gentrification, because in the United States, for example, these rates are not fixed and vary from region to region. The simultaneous operation of several price factors leads to a sharp increase in rental costs. Of course, the more the residents pay for the maintenance of the house and the surroundings, the better they will be served accordingly. Gradually, the area becomes well organized, but too expensive for the population that already lived here before gentrification. This constant financial pressure forces seniors to move further afield where rent is cheaper. This makes room for new wealthier settlers and the area becomes gentrified and “rich”.

Gentrification also changes what services people receive and how their needs are effectively served (Arieff, 135). This can lead to polarization in the community as needed services are unavailable. It also weakens community ties between working-class areas, forcing people to move elsewhere. Others may also resent having their neighborhood, which helped them maintain their identity and provided social networks, transformed to meet the needs of newcomers. Such marginalization and exclusion from the community is another type of displacement pressure that encourages long-term residents to leave. The resentment of longtime residents is evident in Whitehead’s article as he recalls old New York and how it has changed. He states that “thousands of people pass this store every day, haunting their New York streets, and none of them see the same thing” (23). This shows that all the spaces that connect them are destroyed and they no longer feel at home. Arieff argues that the reason for such exclusion and resentment is not in fact the result of bad choices made by poor residents, but is a direct consequence of past planning decisions” (136). In fact, gentrification happens intentionally; that is, plans are made according to specific criteria, including the increase of housing in certain areas. From a historical perspective, gentrification is nothing more than the very slow takeover of an alien area.

Change and gentrification in cities and suburbs also affect shared values ​​and meaning and define place for its residents. This creates a new pattern of increasing inequality and competition for resources. Growing income differences between the top and bottom of the income scale are helping to diversify previously homogeneous urban areas. As a result, the traditional understanding of society as a limited place inhabited by one social group breaks down. The distribution of resources can be regulated, or at least challenged, by setting boundaries between populations, whether based on race, class, or some other social differentiation. Arieff notes that “federal policy after World War II aimed to support suburban development on the condition that homes be sold only to white families and that laws prohibited resale to African Americans” [20]. This perception creates inequality and excludes people of color, favoring white people over them. On the other hand, Whitehead shows that “you are a New Yorker if what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now” (23). These memories are used to connect individuals and form a community.

In conclusion, the above information shows that gentrification has become a social social problem. Leaders and policy makers need to look at how to address this problem because gentrification can be done without displacing the poor. From an academic perspective, gentrification, like all social processes, is ambiguous. Different people can find both good and bad points. The problem with the process discussed in this essay is that it involves the displacement of poor people to other areas and the destruction of local communities. Gentrification harms social diversity, and from a social justice perspective, gentrification is a problem.