GENTRIFICATION

Gentrification can be defined as the process which involves the renovation and restoration of houses in inner cities or another part of the city where poor people live/ which is home to poor people . Some people who have low income prefer to live in architecturally desirable housing for many reasons. These houses have cheap rent and these areas have more employment opportunities than other areas of the city. After gentrification, prices rise,  the size of houses increases and the neighborhood becomes more attractive to people from the middle or upper class. Therefore, people generally sell their houses because they cannot cover the expenses. This process, gentrification, however, has lots of beneficial and harmful side effects

First of all, gentrification increases the financial value of the area. New luxury buildings attract higher income residents and lots of new expensive and elite places will be opened to help them to continue  their standards of living. In addition, places become safer than before. These areas are generally abandoned places which can cause an increase in the crime rate. Hence, after gentrification, these abandoned places become examples of luxury architecture.

On the other hand, the disadvantages of gentrification are  many. Firstly, it causes displacement of the original residents because they cannot cover the expenses of the new houses. They move to another place and their living conditions are  not improved. Moreover, if the neighborhood is the center of a  particular ethnic community such as Harlem in New York, gentrification may cause the destruction of this ethnic community. Gentrification can also  lead to conflict between the original inhabitants and middle class gentrifiers because low income people cannot adapt to new standards of living.

To sum up, gentrification has lots of advantages and disadvantages. It may force people to leave their homes and find another place to live, because original residents may not adapt to these new living conditions. On the other hand, gentrification can reduce the rate of crime and increase the fiscal value of the area. There is no doubt that gentrified areas are becoming important parts of the city. However, there must be some measures to protect original inhabitants.