The Benefits Of Gentrification

Gentrification can be defined as the process of dramatic change and remodel of urban areas accompanied by the influx of white middle-class or white affluent people who ransack the rich history and spirit of neighborhoods. This in turn displaces longtime residents and business owners of color in favor of over-priced homes, eateries, and other establishments that are homogenous to whiteness, while renaming the area. Additionally, there is a legacy of rent hikes and the establishment of high property values utilized as a tool to keep former residents of color out. Gentrification typically occurs in areas where racially marginalized homeowners are concentrated at the onset. This then allows for gentrification to enhance equity building unevenly with white households benefiting most. This results in negative net migration of Black and Latino homeowners by decreasing stability and increasing barriers to entry (-). …show more content…
Ethnic cleansing is formally defined as the attempt to get rid of (through deportation, displacement or even mass killing), members of an unwanted ethnic group in order to establish an ethnically homogenous geographic area. When reflecting on this socially accepted understanding of ethnic cleansing it’s interesting to reflect on the fact that gentrification, or rather urban renewal, has the ability to function as a tool that homogenizes urban areas through the active displacement of residents of