Gentrification: let's fix it, not dismiss it...

The word "gentrification" went from being one that describes a process of urban improvement to one that social and urban activists equate with consumerism, inequality and displacement. Even filmmaker Spike Lee famously ranted recently on the unfairness of "bogarting" neighborhoods in his native New York. Gentrification does radically transform communities and the lives of those who have lived there for generations and as with every policy, there can be winners and losers. The traditional argument against gentrification is that as high-income individuals move in to gentrifying communities, rents and prices generally increase, thus driving out low-income families from their homes. New evidence, however, suggests that this narrative may not actually represent what is happening in our streets. Before making any conclusions on gentrification, we should therefore consider the following points.

Gentrification does not necessarily adversely affect low-income individuals

In a study that compares gentrifying and nongentrifying neighborhoods across the US, Lance Freeman from Columbia University found that gentrification contributes very little to displacement. In fact, Freeman found that low-income residents in gentrifying neighborhoods were no more likely to move out of their neighborhoods than low-income residents in comparable nongentrifying neighborhoods. Similarly, a recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that "gentrification is actually beneficial to the financial health of the original residents".

Gentrification creates safer and more dynamic neighborhoods

It is uncontrovertibly true that neighborhoods such as Williamsburg and Park Slope in Brooklyn, Columbia Heights and H Street in Washington, DC and Condesa and Roma in Mexico City today are safer and more dynamic than they were 10 years ago. These neighborhoods have gone from being low-income, crime-ridden and even earthquake-battered neighborhoods where walking at night was considered an extreme sport to communities whose streets are lined with cafés, restaurants and bars that create jobs for low, medium and high-income individuals and attract residents from around the world who create further economic opportunities. The jobs generated in gentrified neighborhoods in Mexico City, for instance, are the lifeline that provide a livelihood to millions of people living not just in these neighborhoods, but throughout the metropolitan area.

If we really care, let's put our money where our mouth is

If we do believe that gentrification adversely affects some low-income families and individuals and at the same time we can recognize that there are concrete and important benefits from this process, then we need to ask ourselves how can we harness the gains from gentrification while compensating those who are displaced or otherwise harmed. Rather than rejecting gentrification outright, for instance, we can structure this process in a way that extends the benefits more broadly. To do so, we need to:

(1) identify who are the losers from this process, how they are being affected and what are the measures we need to carry out to support them

(2) extract part of the surplus created by gentrification (e.g. rising property values and increased economic activity) through lump-sum, one-time taxing schemes and direct those revenues to funds that promote low-income housing, services for low-income individuals and urban improvement projects, both in gentrifying and nongentrifying neighborhoods

(3) demand that all new housing developments in gentrifying areas include low-income housing that is seamlessly integrated with their new communities

At the end of the day, we all want better cities that are safer, more prosperous and inclusive, so instead of ranting about how awful gentrification is, let's start thinking of how we can make this inexorable process work for everyone. 

Car Tyranny in Latin America and What to Do about It

In today’s world of rising incomes and improving conditions for millions of Latin Americans, cars——the quintessential modern symbol of social advancement——have come to dominate the urban landscape in countries like Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Such has been the rise in their importance that as their numbers have grown, Latin American pedestrians have been unforgivingly relegated to the lowest level of priority on the roads. The automobile culture that has grown in Latin American cities simply does not value pedestrians; rather, it treats them as an encumbrance, an urban nuisance not worthy of respect, much less of the right of way. Latin American pedestrians today thus lack not only the enforceable rights and the resources, but also the confidence and the social authority to stand up to the automobiles that often threaten their physical integrity and with which they must inevitably share the streets.

Cars in Latin American cities——large, medium and small——park on pedestrian pathways, stop on crosswalks and, worst of all, when pedestrians attempt to cross a street without a traffic light, instead of yielding to them, drivers speed up so as to impose their priority on the roads. Further, in intersections that are not large enough to merit a street light, but that are large enough to cause difficulties for pedestrians, pedestrians must often wait several minutes until the flow of traffic clears completely before they can cross.

As far as the laws are concerned, in places like Mexico City, pedestrians have the right of way, but car drivers do not care to respect laws that are not enforced and pedestrians——most of which might not even know they have the right of way——lack the confidence to demand priority on the roads. As Rodrigo Díaz, a Chilean blogger that lives in Mexico City, puts it: “[Pedestrians in Mexico City] wait timidly on street corners, run to cross the streets as if asking for forgiveness, breaking apart into apologies and bows for having dared interrupt the passing of the Automobile Lords”. In large part, the intimidation and insecurity experienced by pedestrians in Mexico City stems from the fact that, on average, pedestrians belong to lower socioeconomic strata than those who drive cars. In a society like Mexico——or in any other in Latin America for that matter——belonging to these lower-income groups oftentimes leads to a complex of inferiority that ultimately affects the perception of one's rights...It is no secret that in Mexico City most pedestrians walk out of necessity rather than by choice and that they wholeheartedly aspire to owning a car one day; understandably so, given the condition of public transit and pedestrians in that otherwise magnificent city.

The situation worsens every day as more and more Latin Americans find themselves in a position to purchase a car and cities with poor urban design and management prioritize the growing class of car owners and create ever more transversal, peripheral and “two-story highways” and parking lots. There are, to be sure, some signs of urban enlightenment in Latin America and efforts to promote improved public transit and non-motorized transportation: the pedestrian thoroughfares in downtown Mexico City, its Ecobici bike-share program and bike lanes along Paseo de la Reforma and in Coyoacán, the Zona T and countless miles of bike paths in Bogotá and the Bus Rapid Transit systems in both of these cities and many others in the region. But this is not enough to make cities friendlier for pedestrians, who by the way represent not just those who primarily walk to work or school, but also those who walk to the metro, walk to catch the bus or walk to their cars in faraway parking lots.

What We Need...

What we urgently need in Latin American cities is:

(1) The development of a civic culture that, while placing priority on road safety, respects pedestrians and acknowledges their priority and right of way (due to their higher risk of exposure to harm and to inclement weather) as well as their obligations in cases when they do not have the right of way;

(2) Regulations that clearly recognize, establish and enforce the rights of pedestrians, particularly their right of way in intersections without a traffic light; that establish fines for perpetrators (or suspend the licenses of multiple offenders); and incorporate a “Pedestrian and Road Safety” awareness module for drivers requesting a license.

What Is Being Done and What We Should Continue to Do to Obtain These Policies

Ultimately, a prerequisite for these developments is an improvement in the perception of pedestrians in Latin American cities, both on the part of pedestrians themselves and of non-pedestrians. We can accomplish this through a socialization of the benefits (for health and the environment) that arise from walking rather than using motorized transport and through efforts that create awareness of the rights of pedestrians. By giving pedestrians greater information regarding their rights and reasons to feel proud of themselves we will be able to empower pedestrians in Latin America and motivate them to demand their rights. Similarly, by improving the perception of pedestrians we can encourage a transition out of cars, even within the higher socioeconomic classes in Latin America, as is the case in more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods like La Condesa and La Roma in Mexico City or La Cabrera and Zona Rosa in Bogota.

One amazing citizen initiative in Guadalajara and Mexico City that has brought hope to the hearts of thousands of Mexican pedestrians is the development of the #wikiciudad, the #wikimulta (fines that citizens print out and place on cars that commit infractions) and the #wikibanqueta projects. In all of these projects citizens decided to create with their own hands the infrastructure that is required for pedestrians and cyclists that their cities are nonetheless unwilling to provide. In Mexico City, for example, a group of mostly young, Internet-age professionals and students called "Camina, Haz Ciudad" decided to paint a sidewalk and crosswalks along a transited highway in Santa Fe, an ultramodern and yet notoriously unsafe neighborhood for pedestrians. Fortunately, more initiatives of this sort are springing up all over the country, a welcome first step in the development of a civic culture that values and protects pedestrians.

Some other ideas to contribute to these efforts are:

- Road safety apps: the development of mobile apps that allow pedestrians to film and denounce imprudent drivers or to report dangerous intersections in their cities

- Citizen cards: Mockus-style citizen cards to show disapproval to drivers who commit infractions

- Social awareness campaigns: campaigns that employ Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social networks and traditional media to promote pedestrian and road safety awareness

- Reclaiming of critical intersections: integral citizen-based solutions to reclaim critical intersections: e.g. #wikiciudad projects or speed camera lotteries

- Memes: SAFELY demanding the right of way in intersections, taking a picture of it and making it a trend on social networks. If “planking” and “owling” became a thing, why can’t “carstalling” become a trend, too?

What other ideas do you have to promote a culture of respect for pedestrians and road safety in Latin America?