Urban Gentrification and Environmental Justice

The Economical & Social Effects Toward Environment: Urban Gentrification, Environmental Justice
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The Economical & Social Effects Toward Environment: Urban Gentrification, Environmental Justice
Given the current technological and economic developments, urban expansion has become a common factor. Urban development involves installing environmentally beneficial strategies and eliminating all the components that threaten the urban environment. According to Checker (2011), this urban development process is known as gentrification. People have different perceptions about the process of gentrification because it is socially sensitive and focuses on the creation of sustainable futures. Gentrification focuses on developing certain urban areas using modern technology that creates sustainability. However, the process displaces the less fortunate from the developed areas. The new developments cause property prices in the particular area to skyrocket. Such makes it challenging for most of the original residents of the areas to afford the new cost of living. Such is, in turn, reflected by the less fortunate vacating the areas in search of places whose cost of living they can afford. Such a factor is what makes social gentrification a socially sensitive issue. Some of the examples of gentrification projects that will be discussed in this paper are the New York Highline project and the Chicago Blue Bag program. The two projects led to an increase in the cost of living, thus raising questions of their reliability. Therefore, this paper will focus on these two cases and urban development's environmental and social effects.
The main impact of gentrification is that it focuses on creating a sustainable future. Environmental pollution has become a common factor in urban areas, given the current technological advancements. Environmental pollution has adverse impacts on the climate because it has already caused climate change. Environmental justice activists advocate for eliminating the components that harm the environment and the implementation of the components that benefit the environment. Such strategies would require the parties responsible for urban development and planning to develop projects to make the environment greener. A green environment with minimal pollutant agents can only be achieved through the projects that facilitate sustainability. The main issue about such projects is that they seem to benefit a certain group of individuals in society. Checker (2011) gives an example of the Harlem Library. The library was developed years ago, but the neighborhood has not been up to the standards of a green environment. The people living in the neighborhood have been asking for a redevelopment of the part, but actions took a long to be taken. Recently, the park has been renovated, thus making the areas greener than they used to be. However, Checker (2011) raises questions on who is bound to benefit from the project. The project has made the space greener but has also raised the cost of living. She points out that the prices of houses have skyrocketed by an increase of 93% from the previous year. Such indicates that the homeless and the...