Re-development and gentrification will and always has been very important in the property market. Due to constantly changing economic, political and social factors of the built environment, gentrification and re-development will always be present within the property cycle as the needs and wants of people are constantly changing. In this document I will explore the causes of re-development and gentrification as well as various growth theories in an attempt to later apply them to the Johannesburg CBD. Growth theories such as Concentric Growth, Sector Growth, Axial Growth, and Multiple Nuclei Growth will all be explained and then if applicable, applied to the Johannesburg CBD. In economics and property, the property cycle of boom, slump, and …show more content…
This is often done in the private sector in an attempt to create more marketable property and in the public sector it is often use to benefit the community via improvements such as infrastructure, roads, or housing. Furthermore re-development is generally only done when the existing property no longer provides any functional utility or is no longer being used for the original purpose for which it was designed for (Useful Community Development, 2016). In the Johannesburg CBD there are many abandoned buildings as well as buildings currently being underutilised that are no longer aligned with current market trends (Joburg , 2010). Due to the fact that Johannesburg is a large growing city these abandoned and underutilised properties may prove to have high future value if re-developed with regard to emerging market trends. For example in the late 1990’s the Johannesburg CBD was almost entirely abandoned due to the crime wave which had swept the area as a result of the post-apartheid climate. However, recently activity has started to bring the CBD back thanks to the efforts from the private and public sectors (Joburg.org, …show more content…
During Apartheid, gentrification in the CBD and throughout the country was often not driven by economic factors but rather by brutal force and government influence. However, today in post-apartheid South Africa the Johannesburg CBD is under-going serious gentrification as much of the CBD had previously been economically repressed and has resulted in a very poor urban element. (Aljazeera, 2015) The private sector has recently invested into many areas in the CBD and surroundings such as Newtown and Braamfontein. Recently the Johannesburg City Council installed CCTV cameras through the CBD in an attempt to lower crime this can also be seen as a method of aiding gentrification (Wakefield, 2015). More will be elaborated specifically on gentrification in the Johannesburg CBD once we can apply the various growth
When foreign buyers empty purchase their properties, there is no money being spent in the community and little money being put back into the area’s economy. When foreign investors purchase property in Ontario, there is no concern about the province’s population or economy. They just have concerns about their personal investment and gain. Foreign investors’ main concerns are their return on their investment, not on the province’s prosperity. In addition, with foreign buyers and empty buying comes the lack of opportunity and execution of infill.
In his Book, Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor, Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh, explains that in the early-nineties while doing field work in the Southside of Chicago he gravitated to a predominantly working-poor black community near his field site (ix). Venkatesh describes the ten-squared block community as being in disrepair very much like the high-rises that were being torn down in the surrounding area (iv). In the presence of some “greystones” and “brownstones” Venkatesh noticed vacant lots, beat-up homes, and what he perceived to be inadequate city involvement in the community -streets need fixing, and trash pick-up was lacking (x). There were also closed storefronts and burned-out buildings in the area (Venkatesh, 92).
Gentrification is the process of improving a struggling neighborhood for affluent people. One of the main causes of this shown by Kelefa Sanneh’s article “Is Gentrification Really a Problem?” , is the real estate market. Things that affect the value of something in a certain neighborhood can end up having a direct influence in all of the neighborhood and can lead to gentrification. The construction of a luxury apartment building can attract more businesses and in turn, more high-quality living spaces which could eventually displace someone living three blocks away.
Most people can pinpoint the changes that occurred in their urban areas; they noticed more non-native individuals move into their urban neighborhoods, following them came the increase of rent and the change of scenery. There was always a name for this issue, but it never surfaced until the late 1990’s. The term Gentrification comes from British sociologist Ruth Glass. “Once this process of gentrification starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the original working class occupiers are displaced and the social character of the district is changed”. (Kissam 2)
Wilder shows how gentrification can go wrong. He blames the government for allowing families to be homeless. If the government were to stop, education reforms that cause school privatization in low-income districts or hospital closures or anything that strains the working class people any further, Wilder explains, then working class communities will survive and no families will be displaced because of gentrification. A solution to the problem Wilder provides is found in Oldenburg’s article. If these communities that are no longer working and are at the risk of becoming gentrified, then some work can be put into it by people who truly care about the community enabling it to build up and become better.
Therefore, to help fight gentrification one must also seek the causes of economic disenfranchisement. Reading this article reinforced my belief that not enough is being doing to help alleviate the needs of the poor or the working class, we as a society would rather just throw money at the problem via entitlements, grants, etc. Without even understanding the issues that are helping to expand or compound the problems, things such as institutionalized racism, the black white paradigm, minorities feeling disposed and out of place in America. These problems exist in many communities throughout the country, yet there is a tacit denial to them and it is just swept under the rug, as if we as Americans would rather ignore than confront. Gentrification is much like this, some see it as progress but to many it is the erasing of cultures that have historically being disenfranchised by those in positions of privilege.
Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste. Real Estate investors usually take low-income places that they feel have a chance to prosper economically, and turn them into areas that attract the middle and upper class workers. In doing so they feel like the low-income areas will be safer and more appealing, attracting more people to visit and live there. An improvement to a poor district sounds beautiful, but is gentrification as great as it’s sought out to be? Many residents have their doubts about gentrification due to the idea that the costs of their living will go up and they will be driven out of their neighborhoods.
There has to be a realistic solution that can be put into motion to benefit everyone involved. Referring again to his article “Is Gentrification All Bad?” Davidson argues that urban renewal, if done right, is not a monstrous custom that it is painted to be; nevertheless, he reasons that gentrification depends on who does it, how they do it, and why they do it. As a resident in New York, a city where gentrification is as widespread as the common cold in winter, Davidson speculates that those who go into a neighborhood with the intention to renovate houses, or abandoned buildings ought to have a good reason for it. The author points out that “Gentrification does not have to be something that one group inflicts on another…” (Davidson 349), rather, he suggests that everyone, the gentrifiers and the locals, be on the same page when it comes to developing their
Inspired by european city rebuilding projects, American cities started clearing away older neighborhoods and creating grand avenues with impressive buildings. The only problem with the growing population was finding housing for the new residents. In Document 6 Nash explains how urban geography changed with emerging central businesses, few people living downtown, middle class residential areas stretched out beyond working class neighborhoods, and the growth of the suburbs which led to better transportation. Many of the rich lived in palatial mansions in the heart of the city while the moderately well to do took advantage of less expensive land on the outer edges of the city thus leading to what was known as the growth of the suburbs. However the poor could not afford housing in the city or in the suburbs and this led to the growth of tenement housing.
The conclusions of gentrification has shifted in recent years, whether it stands for its moral or corrupt. In the course text from the Sharon Zukin’s article, “Naked City: The City That Lost Its Soul”, argues that gentrification is often detrimental to low income/longtime residents, destruction and the end of old authentic neighborhoods. Zukin argues, based on the facts on white-collar men and women have taken up all space, development of new residents and creating a cultural/economic barrier between rich and poor, young and old. Vice Versa, according to recent studies and new formulas of gentrification, it is an effective urban planning strategy because it minimizes the growth of slums, prevents crime and causes growth in the economy. Therefore,
Effect of Gentrification: Introduction In this paper I will describe and explain the impact of gentrification on people of color living in the greater Seattle area in the regards to the issues of accessing housing. Ruth Glass coined the term “gentrification” in 1964 to describe the phenomenon of middle-class settlement in previously working class neighborhoods and the subsequent displacement of the working class residents. In response to these negative images, those with a stake in the process of gentrification, including developers, city planners and new residents, have attempted to replace the term with a variety of alternatives: revitalization, renaissance, rehabilitation and reinvestment (Ruth Glass). Rising property values in the light
Maintain status quo. According to a survey of mayors, most of them expressed desire for higher housing values. For them, the ideal neighborhood is “older areas that have maintained housing values.” In light with economic imperatives and logic, mayors need to prioritize economic growth.
Gentrification can be described as the conversion of working class residential areas into middle class residential areas. The process of gentrification tends to take place in inner-city neighborhoods that are located close to central business districts. The concept of gentrification began in the 1960s with the movement of private-market investment capital into downtown business districts of major urban centers or inner-cities. During the 1970s, there was a decline in the housing in inner cities, which caused the push to rehab the deteriorating housing near the central business districts. Some of the rehabilitation of the deteriorating housing was publicly subsidized, but the majority was financed by the private market.
In this speech, I will begin by explaining what gentrification is along with a short background on the Lincoln Park gentrification, then I will proceed to explain how the families in these areas fought for their homes, and finally I will be discussing the gentrification that is affecting citizens of Chicago today. Body I. Gentrification is the process of renovating an area to meet the standards of a different social class, typically the upper middle class. Throughout this process the price of renting and owning a home increases while family owned businesses become bankrupt. Low-income families are left homeless and without the support of a
EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF HOUSING DEFICIT ON ARCHITECTURE: A CASE OF NIGERIA. Adeyanju I. Boluwatife Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria, Abstract: Nigeria faces a tremendous shortfall in housing provisions, especially in its urban areas.