A Disintegrating Community
While it is natural and even healthy for some communities to evolve, far too often is this evolution to the detriment of the existing community. Nationwide, gentrification sweeps through cities, leaving behind “improved” neighborhoods that lack most of the community that originally resided within. Bristol Live describes the root of gentrification as the ability of higher-income individuals to “become more organised, arranging historic preservation groups, as well as business and neighbourhood associations.” The problem, however, is that the lower-income groups lack the time and resources to arrange in a similar manner, handing over all power and preparation to the wealthy. This also means that lower-income individuals often do not know about these plans until after they have gained momentum, further lowering their opportunity to fight back. For people living in low-income, rent-controlled communities, gentrification means more than loss of local business or the inconvenience of walking an extra block to find a laundromat. In many cases, it can mean drastic increases in rent prices and often eviction, draining the rich communities that may have once existed, putting in their places rich communities filled with Starbucks and shopping malls.
The Design
Though gentrification is a nationwide phenomenon affecting many Americans, those affected feel unified only in their feelings of isolation and disempowerment in the wake of their changing neighborhoods. Our design aims to raise awareness of this issue in a disruptive manner. We have selected for our design a large interactive display, to be projected on a gentrified building within an urban community. The design itself will support the task of connecting people to local politicians, as well as the task of geotagging art and other personal ideas to buildings and locations. We have chosen this design because it is by far the most eye-catching, and we believe it is an idea that could prove to be immensely impactful while synergizing the selected tasks. Additionally, it is not something that requires much effort on the part of the gentrified to still create a powerful statement.