Gentrification Primer Summary

Gentrification Primer Summary
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Dealing with Neighborhood Change: A Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices by Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard.
Brief summary of the paperIn this paper, the authors have delved into the complex issue of gentrification where they have defined it as the process by which higher earning and affluent families and businesses displace lower income neighborhoods, completely changing the economic atmosphere of that area. The authors portray gentrification as a widespread controversial topic and a thorn in urban planning. The paper specifically reviews the findings, interpretations and frameworks developed during the gentrification wave of the ‘70s and ‘80s. It analyzes the intricate ways that the current and the poorer pre- gentrification residents “originals” view it. Furthermore, the paper suggest policies and strategies that can be adopted so as to advance equitable growth and development by maximizing the advantages of neighborhood changes while decreasing the disadvantageous effects of such changes.Key pointsØ Gentrification takes place in periodic waves that is from the federally sponsored urban renewal efforts in the 50s and 60s to the “back-to-the-city movement” of the late 70s and early 1980s.Ø Most United States of America cities whose populations and economies appear to have deteriorated are on the rise and experiencing another wave today.Ø Most leaders such as mayors promote and provide a suitable environment that catalyzes gentrification so as to revitalize the tax base of their communities as well as increasing the viability of their neighborhoods.Ø However in some case gentrification happens not to be a planned strategy but a byproduct especially in cities where there is little land for expansion or few unoccupied buildings.Ø The sides effects of gentrification are enormous and potentially hazardous if not controlled that is it can impose considerable financial and social costs on the low-income earners.Ø Policy makers both in the public and private sectors have an enormous task of anticipating and predicting these potentially harmful outcomes and take efficient and necessary steps to curb them now and in future.Ø Gentrific...