Gentrification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gentrification - Essay Example 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. In the Encyclopedia of Housing it is defined as â€Å"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 popula tion† (Smith) Then Hammel and Wyly difine gentrification as â€Å"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 â€Å"the process by which a neighborhood occupied by low-income households undergo revitalization or reinvestment through the arrival of upper-income households†.... 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 areprominent-the first art gallery in a working class neighborhood is a classic sign of