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My very first experience of gentrification came when my childhood park which all the kids named the ‘gladiator’ park and adjoining football pitch ‘the cage’ was bulldozed over to make room for rubble that would come from knocking down the block of flats attached to mine.

When I say, my childhood was literally erased, I kid you not.
All I could think of was ‘Why?’.

Admittedly reflecting on those days, the estate that I grew up in and still live in was nowhere near as stylish or safe as its current model. With its sky-high concrete exterior, the constant grey became a part of me. A place where despite it’s association to crime and general bleakness was home to childhood friends, juxtaposing blossoms trees and spaces to play- a true concrete jungle. I became more conscious of time and grew sadder when the realisation that friends and families that I had known for years would soon be gone. This sadness was made even more worse by the realisation that they would not be re-housed in the area but further afield. I think for me this disruption to life was what ignited my overall distaste for the growing wave of gentrification happening. The fragmentation of community meant that the days of knowing your fellow neighbourhood resident had been lost.

“Six Acres is a lot better than it used to be,” the caretaker there told me. “I’ve worked on estates all over Islington, and you used to keep your head down here. Now you get a lot more residents coming out after dark. People seem to get on better.” A young mother in a ground-floor flat did not quite agree: “All the fences make it harder to say hello to people you know in other blocks”.

The addition of new luxury apartments to replace what was lost has brought into the area a new crop of people. An area largely made up of ethnic minorities of African and Arab decent and white working class, has now gotten a new group of people – predominantly young white professional couples renting for the first time or middle-class families looking to buy a home.
No doubt attracted to the impressive regeneration of its neighbouring council flats, where concrete exteriors have been softened and brightened with a smooth cream render that is strikingly free of graffiti. The well-tended flowerbeds, absence of litter, CCTV cameras and new green communal areas have created the illusion of safety.

Are we really safer?

I say this because although many regeneration projects on social housing inevitably raises the profile of the area – often gentrified areas meet poor people’s needs less well. As shops become posher and more niche silent social barriers are created, only deepening tensions between old and new. One way in which I can present this to you is through policing; an estate not that from the notorious ‘Andover’ estate characterised by its crime and violence is bound to attract its perpetrators to less policed zones. Where possession of a Class B drugs such as weed would automatically mean arrest, if you were a typical young black man on road – is a completely different story for their white counterparts; especially if your chilling in the sun with a glass of wine.

No tea, No shade.

These kinds of disparities I believe only fuel crime displacement and therefore does nothing to tackle the underlying issues; as I found out recently when my brand-new iPhone 8 was stolen on Boxing Day by kids on a motorbike – my first experience of face to face crime in my 21 years of living here.

A subtler, yet, equally frustrating experience is the lack of inclusion for the already existing community. My recent ventures going into the newer restaurants up and down the Finsbury Park station area made me feel excluded. As one of London’s predominantly Muslim communities, none of these restaurants provided halal or kosher meat options. How much more blatant can you be in your absolute lack of business ethic than not being able to cater to a predominant group within the community. Whilst at the very same time these communities are told over and over again in the media to integrate more into British life. Let’s maybe start with the basics of being able to cater to all dietary needs of your fellow neighbour.
I mean that’s the least of the worries of generations of residents feeling like outsiders; but it’s an example that plays in part to the increasing social narrative of US v THEM in Britain’s social and political climate.

Hailing from the man in red Mr. Jeremy Corbyn’s constituent I remember Jezza being a voice of the people before the regeneration –

“@jeremycorbyn I’m v concerned about plans for ‘regeneration’ of Finsbury Park area in Islington. Socioeconomic cleansing. Unjust, anti-life”.

And has continued his support to represent its residents over concerns raised by local business owners on Fonthill Road, who fear they will be pushed out because of the City North development worth £220million which was first announced in 2014 and is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2020. Corbyn was quoted as saying “My worry is that it’s just going to disappear. This is a fantastic road for the community and I’m here to support them during the building work and try to get some rate relief and also get them an advertising campaign to get people into the shops.” I have faith in the man, but history has almost always shown that at some point the valiant fight of the people always falls short to greed, policy and false promises.

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The ends are indeed changing and who knows what the future holds for the man in the streets. I’m not saying that re-generation /gentrification whatever you want to call it is the complete evil in today’s society, it does have its pros – but if we start to weigh up the pros and cons, the scales wave in favour of the cons.

So how do we solve this?

There’s no easy solution to dealing with the problem, said Dr Alasdair Rae, an expert on urban deprivation based at the University of Sheffield back in 2016 to the ‘Independent’ – “But building more affordable homes, developing a genuine anti-poverty strategy for inner cities, and recognising the uneven impacts of austerity across the country would be a start”.

NOURA A. SHEIKH

Welcome to London, the largest city in the UK and one of the most diverse places to live in Europe.

The UK’s capital covers a total area of 1,572 sq. km (607 sq. m) with a population density of 5,197 Londoners per sq. km, making it the largest city in Europe.

Unique in that London itself is one of few cities within the UK that arguably embodies “multiculturalism” like no other. So diverse, London is home to people from different financial backgrounds and ethnic origins; with more than 300 languages spoken by the 8.1 million people currently living in London. Multiculturalism – though frequently challenged as a social concept – is inherent across London’s society.

London is a beacon of hope and an example to the rest of its European neighbours. In London, you will certainly meet people of different races and religious faiths in your everyday life. The prevailing atmosphere of life in London is one of coexistence and tolerance.

The enormous cultural sector doesn’t only make London an attractive place to live but is of course also a major employer; whilst London’s commercial creative industries contribute considerably to the UK economy. With well-established links between culture and commerce, London attracts artists and people with ideas at the same time as entrepreneurs and investors looking for creativity and innovation. The city’s 12 official specialist Arts Higher Education Institutions and world famous financial district undoubtedly play a part in creating this hub of cultural and business activity. 

Doesn’t that sound like a haven of equal opportunity! 

Although most of the above rings true for many, but the truth behind London’s flying flag of multiculturalism, tolerance, acceptance and that good stuff is simple: British politeness.

By default, London must be that Symbol of Equality- If not for London where else right?

Unfortunately, the reputation of UK’s capital as the land of opportunity is counteracted by London’s growing population. With more and more people planting their feet in London, the need for space has reached an all-time high leading to the rise of developers ready to feed the ‘Supply and demand’ chain. With this growth in the private sector since the start of this current century, only means where there is profit there is opportunity and vice versa; And what better way to make profit than in the property market.

One of London’s most notable markers is its ever-changing skylines. Filled with flying orange cranes to give any commuter a heart attack when passing underneath, or the scaffolding seen on almost every street cements further ‘a change gon’ come’.

So, where are these changes happening? – The ‘ends’ of course!

Outside of what you would typically expect in the heart of any mainstream city in its maintenance of its bougi-er areas, is the rise of building projects in London’s inner city urban areas. Since 2011, the ends of North, South, East and West London have seen local authorities cleaning up the image of their estates.

    Source

According to the 2015 data released by the Department of Communities and Local Government, boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth, Camden, Greenwich, Haringey, Islington, and Newham have seen a marked decrease in the number of areas classed as the least deprived in the past decade.

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that both the scenery and people are different in places such as Brixton, Shoreditch, Walthamstow, Acton and now Finsbury Park.

This to me indicates that not only are they making these areas ‘pretty’ but presenting a culture shock to its residents of 20 plus years; and what’s worse these shifting tectonic plates are forcing people to move out of their homes – willingly or not.

Having spoken to many people across London, the overwhelming baseline is that people are being forced to move out from their inner London homes. The gentrification occurring in these areas means rising housing costs, for which anybody on a low income would not be able to afford; including young people, the working class, skilled migrants and the list goes on.

So, what happened to affordable housing?

To put it simply, local authorities stopped building council housing despite the growing population and private property developers /contractors swooped in.

Since the introduction of right-to-buy in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher, neoliberalism has come to dominate all aspects of economic and social policy. Council housing and its tenants have been undermined and side-lined with the number of council homes built reduced significantly and no long-term solution to the reduced number of social housing available to the most dispossessed.

Continued by new labour further changes came together in a drive towards removing housing from local government ownership and control. Council housing was handed over to newly created quasi-private bodies, such as arms-length management organisations and tenant management organisations, or transferred en masse to housing associations. This was justified by claims that management of social housing would improve, bureaucracy would be done away with, and responsiveness to tenants would increase.

Obviously, that didn’t really pan out well now did it?

With growing resentment in recent years over the lack of affordable housing, with traditionally poorer parts of London becoming gentrified by middle-class families seeking to buy their own homes, has provoked a series of protests in Camden, Brixton, and Brick Lane.

A consequence of the growing private-public partnerships and of the accompanying decades of disinvestment in housing policy, are now being seen across London. It is not simply the levels of inequality we see in the city on a daily basis, but the growing resentment and ‘tolerance’ of  tenants of social housing treated as problems to be managed, with no voice and little respect.

The most notable to-date being the public outcry against the UK government’s response to the tragedy of Grenfell Tower. I will never forget that day – a symbol of working class urban living being side-lined and ignored, and the result was damning.

Why do I care so much? – Well if the above alone didn’t make you go ‘this isn’t right’ then read Part 2 of my experience of gentrification.

NOURA A. SHEIKH-

In the early hours of Wednesday morning (June, 14th 2017), authorities were alerted to a fire at the Grenfell Tower, in Latimer Road, near Notting Hill.

                                  Credit: BBC News/ YouTube

The fire apparently started on the fourth floor shortly before 1am, in 24-storey building, escalating quickly. Firefighters allegedly responded at the scene within 6 minutes of the initial 999 call. Members of the community who witnessed the tragic events saw desperate people in the  block of flats. A woman was seen throwing her baby from the ninth or tenth floor. The baby was caught by a man below, according to the Huffington Post.

Such acts illustrate the enormity of the situation and fear amongst the people. It is a sad time in West London, and the neighbouring area also, and so thoughts are with all those affected.

                                              Credit: Eyevine

What really saddens me and a lot of other members of the community is the fact that the enormity of the fire and overall situation could have been prevented – if the council had listened to the concerns of the community. Residents had complained to the council about there not being adequate fire exists, fire alarms etc. and there were not any sprinklers in the building that would have helped to dampen the fire. The Grenfell Action Group raised concerns last January about the fact that residents could be trapped in their flats in the case of a fire!

And what did the council do? Nothing!

                                           Credit: Getty Images

Continuously, I have heard news reporters comment on the refurbishments that the Grenfell Tower went through last year and the £10 million spent, but evidently, it has been to no avail. At least 12 people have died, 66 in hospital – some in critical conditions – and 2,000 people homeless. So how helpful were these refurbishments?

For me, the refurbishments were aesthetic and aimed at making the Grenfell Tower look “pretty” on the outside so neighbouring “rich” people were less disgusted at the sight of the building.

                                           Credit: Paul Hackett/Reuters

Yet again, poor people have been failed by the system, specifically by the council, who have spent money (if any) in the wrong places and neglected the safety of the hundreds of families who were living in this building.

Homes and lives have been lost, in a tragedy that seems to have been preventable. But the community is coming together to support each other in such traumatic times and so, please support the community in any way that you can – donating food, clothes, toiletries etc.

                                            Credit: CLARE D/PACIFICPRESS/BARCROFT

Here are some places to donate:

The Westway Centre at 2-4 Malton Road, W10 5UP

The Kensington Town Hall on Hornton Street, W8 7NX

Beethoven Centre, Third Avenue, W10 4JL (Clothes, toiletries and anything useful)

Westway Sports & Fitness Centre at 1 Crowthorne Road, W10 6RP

The Sheriff Centre in West Hampstead are accepting all donations.

Tabernacle church in Westbourne

Latymer Road Centre on Bramley Road (Food)

Round Wood Youth Centre

Peace and Blessings