reading response 10/17

Addressing gentrification on a global scale definitely brought to my mind a parallel of colonialism, especially in the cases discussed in the South Africa. This dichotomy of the “slums” and developing cities as discussed by Kenichi Serino’s article is very telling of an aged story, one of eviction and exploitation, all for the sake of globalization. Though it’s not an entirely explicit parallel, I believe further research into the topic would yield interesting results. The final sentence of the article is very telling; the benefits of gentrification are reserved only for those who can afford it, which made the local radio DJ’s comments rather unnerving. The notion that the success of the city comes from “us saying we love our city and we’re trying to make something of our city,” is extremely dismissive to those trying to make a living in The Hercules building.

Regarding the Tokyo article, I thing an interesting point made is that “there is a clear gap between neighborhoods that are believed to be worth a lot of money […], and areas that are actually enjoyable and interesting,” which reminded me of our previous class discussions that people often go searching for communities and cherry-pick the pieces that they like, forgoing the rest of what was already existing and thereby eliminating the true foundations of what was “interesting.” I found the redevelopment dispute over the Ma-Yan property to be interesting as well, considering such a popular bar would’ve most likely brought more interest to the area and cause existing properties to increase their value, however, it’s the elimination of the bar that would in turn make the area less popular?

Gentrification has only proven to be more complex, and through the driving power of all things, capitalism, has been at the root of all of it. The social, community, appeals of areas as discussed in previous articles seemed to be less of a priority in these latest articles, and I think it may have something to do with that parallel to colonialism, though I can’t be certain quite yet.