This webinar features four speakers Rachel Bennett, MPH, MURP, Maria Sipin, Nate Storring, and Jennifer S. Vey, who are from the Brookings Institution, Prevention Institute and Project for Public Spaces, that have combined to form the Bass Initiative on Innovation and Peacemaking. Their hopes are to address the roots of gentrification, particularly innovation economic development and investments and walkability quality places can promote economic opportunity.
The speakers begin by discussing what gentrification is, where does change come from and who drives it. They highlight that communities can drive change by focusing on three outcomes:
-Prevent negative outcomes from externally driven change
– Guide potentially positive outcomes from externally driven change
– Empower internally driven change
Their primary focus is on the innovation of economy, which is driven by innovation processes that increasingly demand collaboration. The importance of this collaboration is that it changes the spatial geography of innovation such that the hyper local is increasing valued. The hyper local refers to an area of a well-defined small comminuted that focuses on the matters that are directed towards the concerns of that population. This can create innovation, arts and creative districts and food markets. This brings together diversity and new opportunity to connect people to the economy.
I found this webinar very interesting, because when observing any improvements within communities, I am wary whether these initiatives actually reduces or increases displacement. Mr. Storring highlights that community engagement is key and even though it takes time to build trust, it is a necessary component in order to make sure the community has a say in improving their community and creating an ownership element, thereby avoiding gentrification. Ms. Bennett further discussed how to contribute to build healthy communities without contributing to gentrification. They support grassroots organizing, research and policy advocacy to prevent displacement. In building healthy communities as well as maintaining affordable housing, from a public heath standpoint, the focus is on health equity. This is defined as “every person, regardless of who they are – the color of their skin, their level of education, their gender or sexual identify, whether or not they have a disability, the job that they have, or the neighborhood that they live in – has an equal opportunity to achieve optimal health.” Braveman, et al., 2011.
In closing, Ms. Sipin discusses the process of boosting community power for mobility justice. Multicultural Communities for Mobility (MCM) is an organization made of team members who are active transportation advocates who stand up against racism and discrimination, evictions, rent increase, police violence and harassment, just to name a few areas interest.
This institute provides a great guideline for tackling the major issue at hand.
This seems like a great webinar covering an underrepresented issue. So many interventions focusing on increasing physical activity work on the beautification of a space as a solution. Many ignore any possible consequences that aren’t of interest to their study. Seeing professionals discuss gentrification and solutions to displacement from interventions is great. The discussion of forming bonds with the community and finding what they want should be applied to all fields working in a community setting. It would be interesting to see how this topic could be discussed in the context of community nutrition.