Rip the city down

Rejuvenation is how a city evolves and expands over time. Areas become dilapidated and are targeted for re-development.

In the property game, investors and developers are always on the look out for the next up and coming suburb or precinct.

Gentrification 'renovates' an area so it appeals to a specific target market. This could include restoration, additions, relocation or new building developments.

New cafes, stores and galleries make a questionable area palatable to the masses. Previously I considered this a logical and inevitable process to keep urban areas progressive.

Reading "Hollow City: The siege of San Francisco and the crisis of American Urbanism" by Rebecca Solnit and Susan Schwartzenberg divided me on the issue.

It examined the gentrification of San Francisco during the 90s dot com craze. Residents were forced out of homes, residential hotels, workplaces and eventually the city by raising rents, new developments, demolition and developers tactics.

The dot com craze was a fast bubble that appeared and cause chaos in San Fran. New start up companies, their employees, clients and luxury brands arrived and demanded immediate residential and commercial space. Minorities and poorer communities in historic areas were the worse affected.

A photo essay of Starbucks around the city with a caption of the established businesses they replaced was particularly sobering.

We want brands but they come with bulldozers and white walls.

Locally, all re-development seems small and measured until a Westfield drops into your area.

Renovation of Wellington's upper Cuba St was a drawn out battle between locals and residents.

A motorway entrance and some restored and relocated historic buildings was the inevitable conclusion. When I last visited it felt like a cardboard film set without character.

Its a sad way for the past to be erased but the future requires progress to be made.