Carving Up Community

Abstract

Gentrification presents a political problem for cities. Practicing democracy requires a commitment to and preservation of meaningful public space so as to support community voice. Democracy as a political institution requires the ability for diverse publics to gather and encounter one another in order to flourish. Gentrification threatens democratic practices by withering away of public space, and its effects particularly impact communities of color. Gentrification's negative spatial effects reduce the cumulative impact of voices of communities, reduce the diversity and availability of public space, and results in a thinner concept of urban community.