This Week’s Readings

In all the readings this week, I’m seeing an overarching theme: gentrification is screwing with the way the locals knew the city. In the Johannesburg reading, instead of having a nice conversation between a family, each person has to now yell over the loud music that blasts from the bar, just to be heard in their own home. In the Tokyo reading, the gentrification process is taking away from the interesting nature of the city of Tokyo, making it as cookie cutter as possible to fit in with the rest of the world. In the Paris reading, American businesses are taking away from the authentic Paris feel of the city. It’s amazing how a small thing such as a store or bar moving into a town can have such a major impact on the town as a whole.