Amsterdam. Netherlands. Gentrification does not just happen. It is a direct result of state policies and the system we live in: large corporations see potential to make money off a neighbourhood, and the state creates space for them to do this. Social housing gets sold and becomes private housing, more expensive stores are opened, and soon the original residents realize that they cannot afford to live in their neighbourhood anymore. More and more people with low income, especially people of colour and migrants, are forced to move to the outskirts of the city, and wealthier people take their place. Public spaces are no longer public but only affordable for people with high income. Gentrification does not solve poverty, but creates it, while moving it out of sight from wealthier people and tourists.
Continue reading Demonstration Against gentrification – For the neighbourhood [Amsterdam, July 9, 2022]
