Community displacement is the movement of a population out of a neighborhood as formal or informal redevelopment occurs. Community displacement is a key argument against informal and formal

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

projects. The implication is that the benefits calculus undervalues the interests of the community residents who will be displaced.

Terminology

The 1949 Housing Act described the movement of populations out of blighted areas as ''planned shrinkage''. The academic literature describes this movement as ''serial displacement''. Recently, the terms ''urban displacement'' and ''community displacement'' are used commonly.

Related terms

''Community displacement'' is used to describe movement in urban areas, while ''

development-induced displacement Development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) occurs when people are forced to leave their homes in a development-driven form of forced migration. Historically, it has been associated with the construction of dams for hydroelectric power ...

'' typically describes movement connected with rural projects, such as dam projects. Community displacement should not be confused with

white flight The white flight, also known as white exodus, is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the Racism ...

, a phenomenon whereby white residents voluntarily move away from an area as it increases in racial diversity.

Causes

The predominant generator of population displacement is government sponsored projects: new highways, education campuses, hospitals, and other urban renewal projects. Housing projects may displace people temporarily. In the 1960s, the preference was for high-density projects which did not result in net displacement. Low-density projects may or may not cause a net displacement. Community displacement may be a result of

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, the informal redevelopment that occurs when new, and typically richer people, move into a neighborhood. It is the result of urban redevelopment of a residential neighborhood to non-residential uses including retail, education, healthcare, and transportation. However, community displacement is not the same thing as gentrification. It may be a byproduct, but it is not a necessary result. New York City's gentrification of the financial district produced no outflow of population. It did not significantly change the cost of living in the neighborhood.

Effects

It is often criticized because displaced residents have limited options to buy or rent equivalent housing in alternative areas at the same price. If they stay, prices for products, services, and taxes in the local area rise and existing social networks are disturbed. Economist Lance Freeman concluded that displacement plays a minor role, if any, as a force of change in gentrifying neighborhoods.

References

{{Urban Planning Urban economics Urban renewal Urban studies and planning terminology