Columbia University Gentrifying Harlem: Who is the Neighborhood Improving For?

Abstract

I wanted to question the idea of improvement when it comes to gentrification. Often the original residents of the neighborhood that is being gentrified do not completely benefit from the change, they are displaced and criminalized in order to protect and cater to the needs of the new people moving. I used the case of Columbia University to explore this idea. To support my argument I used census data, information on the history of Harlem and Columbia University and I interviewed residents and business owners. It is a case that is comparable to many other cases like that of UPenn and West Philadelphia, Yale and New Haven and UChicago, just to name a few.