GENTRIFICATION AND REDEVELOPMENT IN DHARAVI: BALANCING URBAN TRANSFORMATION WITH COMMUNITY PRESERVATION

The term “gentrification” was first coined in the 1960s by British sociologist Ruth Glass in 1964 to describe the displacement of the working-class residents of London neighbourhoods by middle-class newcomers (Richardson, 2019). Since its inception, gentrification has been recognized as a type of neighbourhood transformation which is in favour of newcomers from a wealthier class at the cost of eviction of longtime inhabitants of one socioeconomic class and culture. It could also be correlated with an increase in real estate values. The segregated residential layout of American cities, in the case of the United States, creates conditions where gentrification frequently happens along racial lines. The current minority residents are frequently displaced in these situations of gentrification and racial displacement by wealthy white income individuals.

In due course of time every community experience certain change due to several economic, social and developmental factors. The term "gentrification", a niche urban phenomenon that emerged from the interaction between socio-economic processes and urban development, has now taken the main stage in debates about changing urban environments. To comprehend and confront this serious issue in modern urban development, gentrification must be examined in terms of its causes and effects. Several changes, from the physical infrastructure to the social and cultural fabric of these neighbourhoods, are borne through this phenomenon.