TITLE: UPSCALING THE CITY, SUB HEADING: The Act of Urban Gentrifying, // Imagine Gentrification as a
visit to your doctor, and he normally prescribed a medicine to you. All medicine has its side effect, and
the effect varies depending on the individual. Both a medicine and gentrification have good intentions
but can have serious side effects. And depending on the perspective looked during the gentrification
process, one can see who experiences these results and how much.
Gentrification is the common term for the appearance of wealthier individuals in an existing urban
locale, a related increase in rents and property values, and changes in the district’s character and
culture. While it has several significant and direct positive effects, there are negative effects that must
not be overlooked, including displacement, homelessness, and the pulverization of unique communities.
Gentrification benefits cities and neighborhoods for the sake of the wealthy but at the cost of the poor.
This process forces original residents of the place to leave and provide no space for them. In addition,
not only the people are displaced, but whole communities and their culture with them leaves the place.
There are numerous ways that the government can take to avoid gentrification and uplift the poor and
struggling neighborhoods. James Tracy in “Are the young and wealthy displacing the urban poor?”
clarifies a few potential activities that cities can take: Cities do have the tools to combat displacement,
including zoning choices, progressive taxation to discourage quick flip of homes and creation of
community land trusts.
Gentrification is not the only solution to progress a neighborhood and create more wealth. Progressive
taxation, which is putting higher charges upon the wealthy and less on the poor, ensures that the
wealthy contribute their portion of their income in helping the less fortune by means such as taxes that
go toward the welfare of the poor. Community land trusts is the method of a land being owned by
private institutions that divide the cost between the institution and all the tenants, and as a result, are
able to offer lodging for a considerably lower cost, permitting for permanently affordable lodging. These
are all activities that have been demonstrated to work that will ensure the poor from the harms of
gentrification, but they are not being executed as needed.
All these possible policy solutions are easier said than done but it will make the necessary difference to
limit gentrification. By bringing in a new group of affluent individuals, but also not creating an area only
they can afford will not only keep long-time residents happy, but the tax base will broaden. Broadening
the tax base allows more flexibility in a city’s budget. However, it is then dependent upon the chosen
authorities to efficiently divert money in the budget that needs it the most.