Occupations in Transit Gentrification
by Shuling Wu
“Wherever you go and whatever you do, don’t say the word ‘gentrification’”. - said a colleague in the field… “Gentrification is a dirty word”.
Gentrification is a long contested term amongst many scholars, municipalities, political circles and social movements. Transit induced gentrification, in particular, describes a sudden change in community socioeconomics and education level after significant government investment into a historically underinvested space (Delmelle, 2021). For many, gentrification represents the repercussions of progress as spaces become modernized and those who cannot keep up are displaced (Dawkins, 2023; Lloyd, 2023). For others, gentrification is necessary for the greater good of society as old dilapidated and often unsafe structures are replaced. Afterall, communities stricken with poverty need access to better spaces if they are to succeed educationally (Brummett & Reed, 2019). Indeed, planners of urban space and local government are wary of the notion of gentrification as it presents political roadblocks to much needed management of their spaces. As such, there is a great need to better understand what gentrification is if we are to address global sustainability challenges represented in the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goals. How do we continue to improve the spaces where we live and at the same time ensure those who need these improvements the most have unrestricted access? How can the notion of gentrification be used as a planning tool rather than a political tool in everyday decision making?
The term, occupations (meaningful and purposeful activity) may serve as a useful lens to understand another dimension of what gentrification is. Occupations, from occupational therapy/science, does not mean a career but refers to the daily activities that communities engage in that provide a sense of identity and life purpose (Kielfhofner, 2002; Kielhofner, 2004). The ability to engage in these activities builds community and a sense of belonging to their spaces. For example, gardening as an occupation offers historically agricultural communities the opportunity to connect with their ancestry. As such, a life purpose to nourish and care for their families carries over into the generational duty to be caretakers of land (land stewards). As a renowned occupational therapist once said, “to be human is to be occupations” (Wilcock, 1998). In other words, humans are meant to engage in meaningful and purposeful activities. Without access to occupations, humans lose their spiritual connection to who they are and their greater life purpose in the realm of their universe. They lose a sense of who they are and their connection to their communities. Thus communities deprived of occupations are deprived of their health. In the urban planning context, occupations serve as a useful tool for understanding another facet of the gentrification process.
Transit neighborhoods (ie transit oriented developments) are immensely popular urban design strategies adopted globally. These neighborhoods intentionally hinder the use of private vehicles and prioritize public transit and non motorized modes of transportation. Additionally, diversity is intentionally created by mixing social classes within the same residential and commercial spaces (inclusionary zoning & mixed use zoning). Intentional integration of green space and bike networks all aim to increase community by encouraging daily face to face interactions. However, even with these well intended urban space designs, the pressures of displacement and gentrification are still strong. Housing costs skyrocket and the vulnerable lose more and more of their political voice (Lloyd, 2023).
In addition to the pressures of displacement in these neighborhoods, occupational diversity reduces as these urban spaces mostly support a veryspecific way of life. The upper classes live in higher cost residential spaces and access health, entertainment, and socialization primarily through commercialized spaces (personal trainers, spas, food establishments). The lower classes typically enter these spaces as cleaning and labor staff thus supporting the infrastructure for occupational engagement for a different class. The lower class experience occupational deprivation as their own occupations are not supported in these spaces. Such was the case as I observed immigrant youths playing soccer inside tennis courts along the Purple Line Corridor, MD (an area currently undergoing gentrification). A loss of occupations is inherent in the transit gentrification process as urban spaces are built according to pre-scripted blueprints dictating how space should be used. The upper class have the political power and economic ability to not only access commercialized occupations (ie yoga studio) but also to redesign their own spaces to fit their own needs (ie home renovation). The lower classes however are unable to make meaningful changes to their spaces. As one hispanic immigrant resident reports, “I just want to grow some rue (traditional herb), but i’m not allowed to grow anything inside or outside my apartment”. The need for gardening as an occupation is so strong for this particular community that residents have begun to secretly plant herbs and vegetables hidden in the garden beds of public spaces (ie along the local nature trail and in their community center landscapes). Occupations are essential to wellness. This community has resorted to secretive methods to enact their identities and humane needs.
Thus far, the discussion has described how gentrification in transit neighborhoods is associated with the loss of occupational diversity as preplanned spaces dictate what occupations can be present and how they are accessed. Thus measuring occupational diversity is a tool for tracking gentrification and sense of community as an outcome of urbanization. But the notion of occupations is also useful on the planning end. Occupations themselves influence how space is designed. The organization of a home, for example, changes over time as households enter different stages of life. My own living space has been rearranged more than 15 times in less than 5 years as my own children grew from babies to school age children. Below is an excerpt from an interview illustrating how the design of lawn space evolved for one homeowner engaged in the occupation of community building.
“My yard is a mess but I like to call it a ‘work in progress’”. CC is a homeowner living in the Adelphi Community. This morning she was telling me about her front yard. “Well when we first moved here, it was a nice lawn… but my husband and I are allergic to lawn mowing so we knew we didn't want this lawn”. CC explained how her lawn had undergone several transformations as she pursued a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle. From installing a geothermal heating system to making attempts at regenerative gardening, CC’s thoughts about how her lawn should look and function continuously evolved. CC showed me her start up garden bed and the chickens she had in the back yard discussing their purpose for her family. “I’m still figuring out what I want to do… maybe plant some buckwheat over here”. Indeed, her yard looked very much like a work in progress as wood chips covered most of the land. CC was trying to figure out how to do her part in caring for her community. She talked about her reused fence that had been discarded from a neighbor. It was a simple fence with wooden posts and two logs. She liked this design as she could still see her neighbors and wave to every car that passed by. “Community is important” she said as she continued to tell me about her daily walks, trimming bushes and trees to prevent harm to neighbors. My family calls me the “tree vigilante”. (Female, Caucasian)
In this excerpt, CC’s occupation is community building and it permeates into every aspect of her life as a researcher, educator, community activist and homeowner. So much so that she has materialized into an official title (ie Tree Vigilante). The drive emerging from this occupation shapes her identity and gives her a life purpose. It even permeates into the physical spaces of her daily life (her front yard and the neighborhood where she takes her walks). Space, therefore, is a living and breathing entity shaping and is shaped by the entities that make use of it. Space is ever changing as it infuses the essence of its inhabitants. For CC, her endeavor to transform her lawn space may never end. Over time, however, it will more likely reflect her identity rather than the prescripted sterile landscape designs endorsed by the real estate industry.
From this excerpt, urban planners should understand that space is alive and embodies the occupations of the community. Occupations, infused into the living spaces, are fundamental to a community’s sense of place and belonging. Occupations shape spaces as much as spaces shape which occupations can exist. Urbans spaces should not be designed without the infusion of the community’s occupations. In other words, occupations should shape the urban space. Social injustice in urban planning occurs when the community is not involved in the planning of their spaces (Harvey, 2009). According to Harvey, cities should not be designed based on optimization principles (a capitalistic construct). Rather cities should be designed based on use value principals. In other words, cities should be designed for the people rather than the Capitalistic purpose of wealth accumulation. Occupations when infused in land use design offers a tool to both ensure higher land use values and infuse community identity into a space.
While well intended, transit neighborhoods like transit oriented developments are not free from the negative impacts of gentrification. Designing spaces and preplanning what activities are supported in those spaces leads to sterile spaces where neighbors still feel like strangers and community wide mental health challenges are not addressed. Despite an intentional effort to mix the social classes by offering diversity in housing, a separation between those who have a lot and those who have very little still exists (Harvey, 2009). Further injustices occur when efforts to be culturally inclusive ultimately lead to the commercialization of culture through an ethnic branding process. Cultural artworks commissioned by local municipalities adorning public spaces are meant to represent the local community. However, newly invested ethnic neighborhoods ultimately attract high income young professionals seeking a more interesting cultural neighborhood. An early 2000s ethnographic study (Hyra, 2017) on DC gentrification shows how blackness was branded through the nostalgic marketing of famous black musicians while ignoring the black radical tradition of protest in order to attract white middle-class newcomers. Jazz and other art forms and activities that suit gentrifier tastes were elevated while everything else (ie hip hop,dreadlocks, and non christian religious practices like voodoo) became pathologized as criminal, demonic or a public nuisance (Kent-Stoll, 2020; Hyra, 2017; Hyra 2012; Pattillo, 2007). In these instances, cultural expressions become dissociated from their communities because they did not organically emerge from the community’s occupations. Rather these cultural expressions are cherry picked by outsiders to represent the community and do not support placemaking or a sense of belonging for native residents.
In my community located along the purple line corridor, MD, community planners are intentional about creating equitable neighborhoods to benefit everyone. Yet I can still see and feel the effects of gentrification already occurring. Housing values are elevated along the forthcoming corridor. Mitigating gentrification displacement and planning inclusive equitable spaces is enormously difficult. Local municipalities, urban planners and politicians all face gentrification in their everyday work. Incorporating community occupations is essential at all phases of planning and development to ensure neighborhoods maintain their community sense.
References
Brummet, Q. & Reed, D. (2019). The effects of gentrification on the well-being and opportunity of original resident adults and children (2019-07-16). FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 19-30, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3421581 or http://dx.doi.org/10.21799/frbp.wp.2019.30
Dawkins, C. J. (2023). On the Injustices of Gentrification. Housing, Theory and Society, 40(3), 261–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2023.2181863
Delmelle, E.C. (2021). Transit induced gentrification: The state of the debate. Advances in Transport Policy & Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.atpp.2021.06.005
Harvey, D. (2009). Social Justice and the City. The University of Georgia Press
Hyra, D. 2015. “The Back-To-The-City Movement: Neighbourhood Redevelopment and Processes of Political and Cultural Displacement.” Urban Studies 52 (10): 1753–1773. doi:10.1177/0042098014539403.
Kent-Stoll, P. (2020). The racial and colonial dimensions of gentrification. Sociology Compass. doi:https://doi-org.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/10.1111/soc4.12838
Lloyd, H.R. (2023) Gentrification: A philosophical analysis and critique, Journal of Urban Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/07352166.2023.2216889
Wilcock, A. A. (1998). An occupational perspective of health. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.