[Urbanstudy] What is your city doing to resist gentrification?

[Vinay Baindur]

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/19/city-resist-gentrification-displacement



What is your city doing to resist gentrification?

Whether you are campaigning against displacement or your city has policies
to safeguard affordable housing, share your stories of gentrification here

   -  ¿Qué está haciendo tu ciudad para resistirse a la gentrificación?
   <https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/22/que-esta-haciendo-tu-ciudad-para-resistirse-a-la-gentrificacion>

[image: Protestors in New York]
<https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/sep/19/city-resist-gentrification-displacement#img-1>
Housing
groups protest outside New York City Hall. Photograph: Erik
McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Contribute with guardian witness
<https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/57dad47be4b0e813b694d5ff#contribute>


Francesca Perry <https://www.theguardian.com/profile/francesca-perry>

Monday 19 September 2016 15.00 BSTLast modified on Friday 23 September 2016
12.32 BST

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Gentrification
<https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/feb/27/ruth-glass-spike-lee-gentrification-50-years>
–
a term first used more than half a century ag
<https://sites.google.com/site/gg2wpdermotmitchell/history-and-explanation-of-gentrification>o
to describe the displacement of a neighbourhood’s working-class occupiers
and the transformation of its entire social character – now has a seemingly
unyielding grip on cities throughout the world. Stories of spiralling house
prices, fractured communities and empty towers are commonplace from San
Francisco to Sydney and everywhere in between.

But can gentrification be stopped? Some may say it’s inevitable
<https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/16/gentrification-inevitable-bad-urban-change>,
but is there nothing that governments, local councils, housebuilders or
communities can do to limit its ill-effects?

Grassroots campaigns protesting about luxury developments and the loss of
affordable housing are taking place in cities around the world – from Corazón
Del Pueblo in Los Angeles
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/19/los-angeles-la-gentrification-resistance-boyle-heights>
 to Reclaim Brixton
<https://www.theguardian.com/cities/davehillblog/2015/apr/28/brixton-anti-gentrification-protest-reclaim-foxtons-estate-agent>
 or Focus E15
<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/05/focus-e15-mums-fight-for-right-to-home>
in
London, and Save Moore Street in Dublin
<http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/traffic-chaos-in-dublin-as-hundreds-come-out-to-protest-moore-street-gentrification-34409561.html>
.

Some cities have introduced policies to safeguard affordable housing, such
as São Paulo’s Zones of Special Social Interest
<http://www.thepolisblog.org/2012/01/misusing-city-statute-in-sao-paulo.html>
. Berlin, among other cities, has introduced restrictions
<http://archpaper.com/2016/05/berlin-restricts-airbnb/> to limit the
gentrifying impact of holiday rental website Airbnb, which is seen as
contributing to the shortage of affordable residences.

Rent control has been seen as a potential means of preventing gentrification
<http://chicagoreporter.com/in-the-citys-gentrifying-neighborhoods-rent-control-could-offer-relief-for-some-residents/>,
but there are doubts over how effective it is
<http://journal.firsttuesday.us/rent-control-versus-gentrification-in-california/47920/>.
Earlier this year, New York mayor Bill de Blasio also passed an
inclusionary housing plan
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/nyregion/new-york-council-passes-zoning-changes-de-blasio-sought.html?_r=0http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/nyregion/new-york-council-passes-zoning-changes-de-blasio-sought.html?_r=0>
to
address the issues around affordable housing in the city.

Others are working hard to create more inclusive urban development.
Community land trusts (CLTs) are local organisations set up and run by
community members to develop and manage genuinely affordable homes – Granby
Four Streets CLT
<http://www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk/history-of-the-four-streets/> in
Liverpool and London CLT
<https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2015/jul/26/ringing-londons-changes-at-st-clements-in-mile-end>
being
two such examples.

But what about where you live? Are there policies, campaigns or projects to
keep housing affordable, prevent displacement and resist gentrification?
And if not, do you think there should be?
How to get involved

Share your stories with us and a selection will be featured on Guardian
Cities <https://www.theguardian.com/cities>, which next week will be
hosting a special series focusing on gentrification around the world.

You can either contribute using the form below, or using GuardianWitness
<https://witness.theguardian.com/> (just click on the blue “Contribute”
button). You can also follow Guardian Cities onTwitter
<https://twitter.com/guardiancities> and Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/guardiancities> to join the discussion, using the
hashtag*#GlobalGentrification*.
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