Benedict Seymour on Militant Urbanism

A thought-provoking essay about gentrification from Benedict Seymour in Variant (34), entitled Shoreditch and the Creative Destruction of the Inner City:

"the cosmetic renewal of a portion of the crumbling urban core coincides with continued – or intensified – infrastructural decline. Rather than an unfortunate side effect of the real estate market, gentrification is an openly pursued policy objective where 'creative entrepreneurialism’ is identified as key to reviving inner cities. Gentrification takes from the poor and gives to the rich; anything residually ‘public’ will either be reclaimed for the middle class or left to rot. The question remains, is the current crisis a reprieve or a new assault, and who will win this time?"

www.variant.randomstate.org/34texts/shoreditch34.html