Before there is an aesthetic of gentrification, there is disinvestment. In
between both is the production – and perception – of empty space ready to be
filled. The production of empty space has a long history in New York City, from
settler colonialism to urban renewal to gentrification under the neoliberal
regime of today. Techniques such as filtering, investing in the aesthetic
potential of aging neighbourhoods, and declaring vacancy, have helped fuel
the process of gentrification. More recently, that process has accelerated to
insure New York’s world city status by promising that every underutilized
parcel will be filled with the tallest buildings, the greenest construction,
and the densest use of land. Yet the city still has room for alternative visions
that embrace a pause in the growth machine, such as cooperative centres
and community gardens. These efforts, threatened though they are, provide
models for inclusive cities where neoliberalism does not.
