ESSAY ON GENTRIFICATION

Essay on Gentrification

Essay on Gentrification

Introduction

This paper intends to discuss about gentrification. The basic theme of the say will revolve around the question that 'does gentrification enable or hinder community led regeneration?' The essay will focus over the underlying themes of community, participation and community regeneration. Gentrification remains the most important aspect of community regeneration in today's times. Gentrification is basically one of the most important and controversial processes which is adopted by the urban developers for the purpose of converting the lower income neighbourhoods into more appropriate and accepted areas of the community. The process of gentrification has witnessed immense amount of debate in relation with its advantages and harm to the community and society. This paper will highlight the most important aspects of community. Community participation and other relevant concepts related to the discussion of participation of communities in real world regeneration schemes. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of process of gentrification and its underlying impact over the community and the community participation.

Discussion

Before answering the most important theme of this particular essay which is does gentrification enable or hinder community led regeneration; it remains essentially necessary to describe what the process of gentrification is all about. The process of gentrification is basically defined as the conversion of lower income neighbourhoods and the inner city ghettos into more refined or upscale communities. The new refined communities tend to have condominiums and loft apartments which tend to attract wealthier tenants. The renovated homes become out of affordability for the current residents. The current residents are usually not able to afford or pay the higher rents; therefore, the process of gentrification forces the residents to move into even lower class areas which usually have higher crime rates (Brown, 2012 Pp. 1-2).

Similarly, with the movement of residents, the local business also suffers. The old businesses were catering the needs of working class residents and now when the residents change; the businessmen need to think either to relocate or to sell out their businesses. Gentrification is essentially assumed to be against the most important aspect of community participation. Gentrification is defined by the renovators as the process of having an underlying goal of renovating and renewal of the lower income areas; however, this renovation does not help the current residents of those areas rather this renovation tends to create significant problems and hurdles for the community. A complete new range of economic, social and other problems tend to become prominent for the people who have to face the underlying displacement (Atkinson & Bridge, 2005 Pp. 48-53).

Community tends to have various commutative meanings. It is essentially assumed that community is something which refers to become a larger social unit sharing common values. The identity of participants within the community tends to differ according to the degree of the cohesiveness prevailing within the community. The communities remain the most important and integral part of any society. In today's modern world, communities are usually distinguished on ...