The Structuration Of Neighborhood Decline Through Redlining, Drug Dealing, Speculation And Immigrant Exploitation

Introduction:

Rather than viewing neighborhood decline as a natural process resulting from the in-flow of low-income households, this study uses a socio-spatial approach that looks at the structuration of neighborhood decline by emphasizing the power of agents/actors, linking the structure of the real estate industry to the development of the neighborhood. Landlords and banks are not merely automata of the price mechanism that steer the market’s natural operation, but should be seen as intentionally and unintentionally restructuring the local real estate market and thus possibly producing, or contributing to, processes of neighborhood decline.

This paper presents the Tarwewijk (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) as a case study of neighborhood decline. Attention is paid to the social and physical decline of the neighborhood, drug dealing, undocumented immigrants and processes impacting the housing market such as speculation, blockbusting, milking and redlining. It is argued that the retreat of ‘formal’ actors, such as banks and bona fide landlords, stimulates the rise of the underworld in both the housing and drug markets.

Neighborhood Decline:

Neighborhood decline or downgrading is a process witnessed all over the world, but surprisingly little is known about what it is. Social scientists in their analyses (often implicitly) distinguish between physical decline (housing stock, public space, garbage, etc.) and socioeconomic decline (lower average household income, unemployment, noise, ‘social’ problems like drug abuse, but also a rise in cultural or ethnic diversity). Some authors stress one type of neighborhood decline over the other, while others go as far to argue that one type of decline is completely caused by the other.

For example, in a neo-liberal interpretation, lack of maintenance of the housing stock is said to be caused by the low rents that do not make up for these expenses; or, in a more Marxist fashion, the well-off leave the neighborhood as a consequence of capitalist landlords who try to maximize their income by not maintaining their housing stock.

What Is Neighborhood Decline?

Neighborhood decline can be defined in social as well as in physical terms; it can refer to a downgrading in the average income and status of its residents, or a rise in the level of crime and other illegal activities, as well as to a downgrading of its housing stock, its amenities and facilities (including public/medical/social/cultural services, shops, public transport), its streets and public space.

Migration and Neighborhoods:

One of the most profound population shifts in post-war Europe has involved the settlement of immigrants from non-Western countries in cities. After being excluded from the housing market upon arrival, and being forced to live in (guest worker) lodgings, immigrants’ access to the housing market has improved over time; in particular since the social rented housing sector has opened up due to the enlargement of citizenship rights to immigrants.

A Socio-spatial Approach:

This study applies a socio-spatial approach to neighborhood decline. This approach was developed as a response to (neo-)ecological theory in general and the invasion–succession model in particular. This approach blends sociology with the perspectives of geography and political economy. Following Gotham, we can distinguish four arguments for the adoption of a socio-spatial approach.

Agency and Structure:

This emphasis on agency brings people back into the analysis and emphasizes the centrality of social action and conflict in determining the shape of the built environment. It also suggests that researchers should look beyond the ‘usual’ indicators of change such as average income level, resident mobility (housing turnover) and the mix of racial/ ethnic groups, and dig deeper to uncover the actions of real estate actors.

Abstract and Social Space:

Without neglecting the primordial quality of space, it is considered as a social product in which all aspects of life, whether economic, political or cultural, are negotiated through the operation of power relations. The sociospatial approach, following Lefebvre, sees the conflict between ‘abstract space’ (how government and real estate actors think about space for political or economic gain) and ‘social space’ (how people think about the place where they live) as a central issue in urban research.

Constructing Place and Ethnicity:

Understanding the process of neighborhood decline and the exploitation of undocumented immigrants requires an appreciation of the socially constructed nature of both place and ethnicity, and the importance of conceptualizing phenomena within broader historical, political and spatial processes. Place is constructed through the representations held by others within particular contexts (i.e. abstract space). A social constructivist perspective argues that ethnic identities can be ‘invented’ through language and other forms of social construction.

Conclusion:

Market intermediaries and housing investors can speed up the process of decline by overreacting to early symptoms of decay and, through processes of milking and redlining, by creating a chain reaction of further decline. Grigsby and colleagues claim that “succession must inevitably lead to decline if there exists within the community a poverty population of substantial size”. Downs’ life-cycle theory goes a step further by arguing that not only is succession itself a natural process, but also that neighborhood decline is inevitable for urban neighborhoods.

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