Estate Living Magazine Precinct Living - Issue 33 | Page 28

Urban
REGENERATION
vs GENTRIFICATION
Rejuvenating inner-city neighbourhoods can be an uplifting, progressive
and profitable enterprise, but it’s not as simple as that.
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There is absolutely no doubt that inner-city
rejuvenation is an indispensable aspect
of development in South Africa and, in
some cases like Johannesburg’s inner
city, the benefits are clear. In others, like
Cape Town’s Woodstock and Bo-Kaap, it is
necessary to consider whether the cost is not
too high. Researchers are therefore anxious
to distinguish between ‘gentrification’ and
‘urban regeneration’ or ‘urban rejuvenation’.
The Cities Network, for example, specifies
gentrification as a phenomenon in which
‘displacement occurs as a result of capital
investment and urban transformation.’ In Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap, for example,
residents are so concerned about losing
their culture and traditions to gentrification
that they are engaged in a court battle to
stop the construction of an 18-storey mixed-
use building. They are afraid that it will be the
first of a ‘wall of monster buildings’ that will
cut off their neighbourhood from the rest of
their city. Although gentrification of a sort has
been evident in Bo-Kaap for about 15 years,
the recent urgency in their protests was
sparked by a realisation that the new wave
of developments could destroy Bo-Kaap as
they know it within the next few years.
South African urban areas are undergoing
significant change, with new spaces for
living, working and leisure being created
continually. The rejuvenation of neglected
and dilapidated spaces is imperative for
meeting the demand for housing close
to jobs, education and services, and also
because inner cities are important for racial
desegregation. Inner-city development that
is not sensitive to the needs and character
of existing residents, however, can destroy
the strong social networks and wholesome
community structures that often form in
old neighbourhoods. Worse, it can result in
economically driven displacement, which
makes it even more difficult for lower-
income families to make ends meet. Once gentrification starts, say experts, it
continues until there is a complete change
in the social and physical characteristics of
a place. There are different reasons why,
when and where gentrification takes place.
Partly, it is driven by the rent gap reaching a
point at which it becomes attractive to buy
neglected properties for renovation or new
development, along with demand for both
the location and the new facilities that often
come with neighbourhood improvement.
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Urban regeneration has a number of benefits.
It revitalises neighbourhoods, attracts an
influx of new amenities, and improves local
economic activity. But these are directly
linked to its dark side – gentrification. The
resultant rise in rents, rates, and property