It’s been happening since the sixties. The socio-economic shift of areas around London has been a common theme for London for decades.
And East London is no exception to this shift. The Olympics poured millions of pounds into Stratford, and with the arrival of the mega shopping centre, Westfield, in the same location, it has caused what was once one of London’s worst areas, into one of the capitals commercial hubs.
Stratford is not the only area in London that has experienced gentrification. With the announcement of Cross Rail in 2009, substantial amounts of funding have been put into infrastructure around the affected areas, leading to a rise in house prices. According to a CNN report, prices of properties within a 1 mile radius of Cross Rail stations grew by 39% over the past 3 years. And with Cross Rail destinations such as Whitechapel, Forest Gate, and Manor Park, it’s fair to say that East London is affected by this. So the question begs, is gentrification a good thing? This article will put forth the main pros and cons for gentrification.
On the surface, it may seem that the impacts are only positive. Gentrification leads to the development of deprived communities. Lower class areas are renovated; public property and parks are improved and new business, shops and leisure facilites are increased in the community. These businesses provide jobs for local people thus improving employment rates. With the improvement of services and amenities of the area alongside the general improvement in infrastructure, property prices increase.
This all sounds great! Underprivileged communities getting the help they need. However, there are some negative impacts to this process, the main one being that the higher property prices can price original home owners and tenants out of the area. This pricing out, can lead to eviction, homelessness and a forced displacement out of an area families have significant community links and ties. Forced displacement has a negative impact on marginalised groups, many being placed into social housing far away from their original location, unfairly isolating them from the places they know. According to the London Borough of Waltham Forest Homeless Report published in 2018, the majority of families who presented as homeless were rehoused in temporary accomodation out of the borough due to lack of social housing.
Gentrification targets areas that are predominantly occupied by lower socio-economic groups and ethnic minorities to conform to middle class taste. New businesses coming into the area tend to target those with more of a disposible income e.g middleclass newcomers who move in attracted by the new change, these new services often do not cater for existing communities.
The term "social cleansing" is commonly used by some as an alternative term for gentrification.
Gentrification in East London is imminent, it brings change and affects the local area both economically and socially. Economic success will always benefit an area but the question remains as to whether solutions are needed to address social justice for those it impacts.
