Gentrification and Ghettoization a Rising Crisis in Europe's Cities

Harvey Morris surveys recent controversies in France, England, and Germany that have stoked the simmering debate over whether the accelerating gentrification of Europe's major cities is leading to the ghettoization of their urban poor.

1 minute read

August 21, 2012, 12:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


With the global recession increasing the gap between "the haves and have-nots" in Europe, as in America, the expense of Europe's major cities has continued to rise, further reducing the areas affordable to lower-income residents.

With ghettoization increasing, lower-income residents and their advocates aren't taking the situation lightly; as recent riots in Amiens, criticism of a plan to demolish Communist-era apartment blocks in central Berlin, and opposition to a proposal to sell municipally-owned homes in expensive neighborhoods in Britain, and move their low-income tenants elsewhere, attest.  

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 in The New York Times

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