Talk:Gentrification

Many factors drive the process of gentrification. I think the largest factor affecting this process is the rapidly rising global population. With more people comes a greater demand for housing especially near urban centers due to the number of jobs in these urban cores. The gentrification taking place in the downtown eastside (DTES) and Strathcona communities is a perfect example of this process. The demand is there for more housing creating lucrative business opportunities for developers. The DTES once known as the “poorest postal code in Canada” offers land situated very close to the downtown core, at cheaper prices.

Stopping the process of gentrification is a very tough task in my opinion. Vancouver for example has come up with a plan for the redevelopment of the DTES, including more social housing claiming that none of the 18,000+ residents currently living in the area will be displaced. Housing is only one aspect of a neighbourhood though. With the increase in a wealthier population to the area it creates business opportunities catering to this population with a greater income. This in turn pushes out the businesses that have catered to the lower income residents. This 18,000+ current population may still be able to “live” in the area in social housing but they may be driven out of the area due to the higher cost of the basic necessities needed to survive.

Plans associated with mitigating gentrification always seem to focus on the housing aspects when I think an equal part should be placed on the local businesses in the area. What are your thoughts on limiting the process of gentrification on local businesses? Is there a happy medium?

Another point that supports the process of gentrification is the cost of supporting these areas. Using Vancouver as an example again, the cost of health services, policing, maintaining, and other means of supporting this lower income population is very high. These individuals due to their low income pay very little in taxes resulting in the rest of the population in Vancouver picking up the slack. This creates the question of what makes these individuals entitled to live in this area?

I personally love the topic of gentrification and how found your links helpful. I would suggest adding a definition of gentrification for which readers can basis their understanding off of.

Hello!! Loved your wiki... a great topic!! If I may, I would like to make a suggestion. I would love to see more information about gentrification, such as the causes and effects. It would be interesting to see examples as well.

Hello lain! Very interesting topic, I would suggest adding hyperlinks to terms that readers may be unfamiliar with such as the “GI Bill” program. You also mentioned how “ the gentrification has expanded to include a variety of theories about what gentrification is and what should be done about it” in the “The Rent Gap Theory of Gentrification” section of your post. I think that it would be really interesting if you included these theories into your page. One more thing!...make sure to keep your citations and referencing style consistent through out your page! Your off to a great start, Maya

Hi Iain, this wiki page is off to a great start, but it could use some more structure. Consider adding more headings and topics related to Gentrification, like History, or Context.

Very interesting piece! It is great to see the use of legend scholars like Jamie Peck and his work on gentrification within your article. You may want to consider adding your citations in. It is actually a very simple process just follow this link: http://wiki.ubc.ca/Help:Footnotes_and_References.