gentrificationseffectoncomm-blog

[gentrificationseffectoncomm-blog]

Although I’ve never explored gentrification as a theme through art or design, as I mentioned in the introduction I have been exposed to it constantly in London throughout my childhood. In recent years especially I have come to see it start to become more apparent. I have been lucky to grow up in an area - particularly the road on which I live on - which has an fairly strong community. Examples of this are annual street parties, a community garden and the bonds people have between each other (it’s not unusual in the summer to see a large football game involving children and adults or for a huge water fight to break out on a particularly hot day). However, current rising house prices have started to see certain groups of people who lived on my road start to move away, despite having existed before my families time in Acton. The diversity has definitely declined, and with this I have started to notice a slight decline in the sense of community. For the past two years the street party never got round to happening, the community garden has started to become overgrown and underused, etc. I want to use my skills as a graphic designer to help to bring people living in proximity together and realise the importance of maintaining community. During the “campaign” brief I explored ways of persuading a specific target audience of the requirement of a totally unrelated object - music lovers to teabags. I feel that the in-depth first hand research which I carried out during this project was a key aspect to it’s success, as I discovered small details I wouldn't otherwise have been aware of (for instance teabags were initially purely a transportation for loose tea, i.e. the tea was poured out of silk bags). These helped lead towards a final product which had more relevance and depth, due to being based on facts and opinions presented to me whist talking to people face to face. As community is something which is very personal and differs from place to place, I will ensure that I collect a plethora of first hand research at the start of my final major project, as a base to work from.

[gentrificationseffectoncomm-blog]

High Rise

J. G. Ballard’s novel “High Rise” presents an interesting take on the future of different classes living side by side. Having read the book and watched Ben Wheatley’s adaptation subsequently, I thought that Ballard’s message was an intriguing observation, yet had no potential as a dystopian future. Reading into the opposition of gentrification has however changed my perspective on this potential future class war. Only a year ago saw the newly opened “Cereal Killer Cafe”, a cereal shop opening in Shoreditch which represents the inequality in East London for some, attacked in a anti gentrification protest. I’m particularly interested in the relationship between different classes, which have started to exist in estates. Brutalist structures especially have come into fashion despite the original opposition to the functioning architecture style. One example of this is Erno Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower, which now houses social housing and city workers side by side. Does this new interaction prove to beneficial over time - is the building maintained better as a result; e.g. lifts repaired quicker? Does the exposure of both classes to one another help to break down pre existing boundaries, is the homogenisation of communities prevented this way; stopping disparity and fear of the lower class? Or will Ballard’s fiction start to become a reality as the lower class rebel to their gradual forced move from areas with cultural associations.

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The Hipster Effect

Gentrification within London particularly has become associated with the introduction of hipsters. Areas which are previously deemed undesirable have begun to be perceived as edgy and urban. In a debate on a City Talks podcast regarding gentrification, Anna Minton states that the “post industrial city… has begun to become attractive to new workers of the new city.” This new aesthetic which is sought after includes “trendy warehouses” and “loft living”, as there is a shift in wanting to escape the city to wanting to be fully immersed in it. Toby Lloyd comments on the “aesthetic related to gentrified areas”, which includes “small pop up shops, artisan coffee shops”. Areas such as Hackney and Dagenham exemplify this perfectly. The demolition of Heygate estate in 2011, led to the production of Elephant Park. Whereas Heygate had housed 3000 people in social housing, Elephant Park offered more luxury apartments to 2000, with only 79 of these acting as social housing. Minton argues that this is not simply gentrification, but a form of social cleansing.

Funnily enough I have started to observe this within Acton, with my local high street becoming filled with multiple coffee shops employing an industrial, reclaimed aesthetic, as well as an artisan bread shop (this is partially due to the new Elizabeth line making the City of London more easily accessible). A wine shop has recently opened a separate accompanying wine bar, employing a young Manchester Met graduate I stopped to talk to, to spray paint a mural on the side of the store. This transition from the Acton I knew before featuring graffiti in the form of tagging, to the more artistic approach to the medium is an interesting signification of the area’s changing inhabitants due to the effects of gentrification. Rather amusingly a sign of the incomplete gentrification has emerged since the murals completion: in the same shade “bollocks” has been inscribed on top of the artwork.

A parody video I strayed across entitled “Gentrification 2.0.” satirically comments on the effects hipsters have on the property market: a run down area is inhabited by a generation of young hipsters, seeking to form a new community. The area initially has coexisting classes living side by side. However as the hipsters begin to work on improving the location the perception of the area improves, inevitably being captured by rent. Again I can see this begin to occur in my area as small businesses pop up in previously unused store fronts, a new small block of apartments has had the majority of the new apartments snatched up for property investment and remain uninhabited since completion.

[gentrificationseffectoncomm-blog]

Assemble

Assemble were the winners of the 2015 Turner Prize. They were the first collective of individuals, not relating to artists, to win the prize and caused a large outcry within the art world. Their award winning project in Granby Four Streets, Liverpool focused on the refurbishment of an area which was constantly under threat of demolition for redevelopment - already the majority of surrounding terraced houses had been cleared. Local residents inhabiting the remaining four streets had refused to be moved. Instead of being relocated and losing the rich community which they cherished so much, they begun the process of cleaning the area, painting murals on empty houses and planting gardens.

Assemble were brought in to aid this process. Initially 10 houses across the four roads were brought back to life. These were refurbished with a number of furnishings created using rejected materials from construction surrounding the four streets: bricks and other physical materials, as well as using sawdust to fuel the production of tiles, door handles, etc. Since winning the Turner Prize, the collective have used the prize money to open a workshop in the derelict building which had once been the newsagent. This has allowed locals to not only use the spotlight on the area for their own personal gain, continuing the product of items designed in the lead up to the Turner Prize under the guidance of Assemble, but also to become an even tighter knit community.

This extremely intense community by the locals is something which I find fascinating. I want to look at the factors that make a community come together. Is it the introduction of a common hardship that promotes a greater sense of community, or does this rely purely on the people inhabiting the buildings in an area. In addition to this, does the type of housing have an effect? From what I have observed across a range of documentaries and films as well as talking to my grandparents, terraced housing had a far stronger sense of closeness compared to what is seen nowadays. Is this to do with proximity of living, and does this therefore mean that living in an estate/tower block would maximise this collective nature?

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South Acton Estate

The redevelopment of one of the main social housing complexes in my local area, South Acton Estate, has led to the number of social housing decreasing by half. These have been replaced by affordable housing. Whereas before the majority of inhabitants will have rented, the new apartments will become far less accessible to previous tenants due to the fact “affordable” refers to the purchase price. The plight of many people living on this estate, as well as others around London, is highlighted by the street artist Stik. “Big Mother” is the largest piece of street art in the world, depicting a mother holding a child, looking dismayingly around at the surrounding private development. In an interview with the independent, Stik comments on the mural saying “While I am drawing on the wall; my role as an artist is to draw from society and social issues, and try to depict what is going on.” Whilst the views of Stik and several articles written regarding London’s issue of gentrification argue the negative impact that this redevelopment for the middle class, Ealing Council maintains that the process will have a positive effect, reintegrating “the estate into surrounding area by improving access and permeability”. I’ll be interested to observe the effect on the area as housing nears completion currently, and whether the council’s promises to maintain economic and class diversity will stay true. I’ve included several pictures showing the estate during the demolition process, as well as some of the buildings nearing completion.

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Introduction

Despite the fact that I am very much from a middle class family, the negative effects of gentrification is something that I’ve always been well aware of. My mum’s constant involvement in our surrounding community exposed her to this on a daily basis, often raising discussions about it as an issue over the dinner table.  In particular, her work as head of the governors at my old primary school revealed one of the negative impacts that this phenomenon has: families which were less well off, first generation immigrants especially, are relocated from areas sold off for property development; forcing them to either commute to school/work every day or start up an entirely new life somewhere else.

Since my younger sister has left for secondary school, my mum has stepped down from her role as governor. This has led to the frequencies of such family discussions - sparked by affected parents confiding with my mum - decreasing a fair deal. Although it has become a less prevalent topic of conversation, I’m still exposed to the gentrification of my area on a constant basis. I want to explore the effect which gentrification has on communities, but ensure that initially I don’t approach the topic with preconceptions or a personal opinion. I feel that this will allow me to research the topic and gain a far better insight into the different perspectives of class, wealth and economic backgrounds; before I form my own thoughts on the matter. As a graphic designer I feel that I have a social responsibility, as designers such as Tibor Kalman believed. Ethics in graphic design writes “Kalman inspired graphic designers to use their work to increase public awareness of a variety of social issues.” Through this blog I want to gain a greater insight into the social impact which the gentrification of my local area, and of London as a whole, has on the communities pre existing and the communities which are newly formed. Through bettering my understanding I can then begin to look at ways to tackle issues relating to this topic.