1 00:00:02,870 --> 00:00:03,870 Greetings Troublemakers... 2 00:00:03,870 --> 00:00:05,070 welcome to Trouble. 3 00:00:05,070 --> 00:00:07,090 My name is not important. 4 00:00:07,090 --> 00:00:08,040 Whether you live in a 5 00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:09,630 densely-populated metropolis, 6 00:00:09,630 --> 00:00:10,630 or a mid-sized city, 7 00:00:10,630 --> 00:00:11,920 chances are you've had 8 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:13,070 first-hand experiences 9 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:13,970 dealing with the process 10 00:00:13,970 --> 00:00:15,260 of capitalist urbanization 11 00:00:15,260 --> 00:00:17,110 known as gentrification. 12 00:00:17,110 --> 00:00:18,960 It's called gentrification. 13 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,620 They can buy the land at a lower price. 14 00:00:20,620 --> 00:00:22,330 Then they move all the people out, 15 00:00:22,330 --> 00:00:23,440 raise the property value, 16 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,070 and sell it at a profit. 17 00:00:25,070 --> 00:00:26,080 While this disease is 18 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:27,680 often popularly associated 19 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:29,453 with its most visible symptoms, 20 00:00:29,453 --> 00:00:31,366 like the opening of a new boutique cafe 21 00:00:31,366 --> 00:00:32,126 on your block, 22 00:00:32,126 --> 00:00:33,870 or the seemingly endless construction 23 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:35,940 of new high-rise condo towers... 24 00:00:35,940 --> 00:00:38,180 gentrification is, at its core, 25 00:00:38,180 --> 00:00:40,630 a process of displacement. 26 00:00:40,630 --> 00:00:41,630 It is class warfare, 27 00:00:41,630 --> 00:00:42,830 waged in the physical spaces 28 00:00:42,830 --> 00:00:44,550 of our neighbourhoods. 29 00:00:44,550 --> 00:00:46,330 It is speculation and investment, 30 00:00:46,330 --> 00:00:47,800 financed by banks, investment firms 31 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:49,580 and pension funds, 32 00:00:49,580 --> 00:00:51,210 enacted by real estate developers 33 00:00:51,210 --> 00:00:52,710 and facilitated by state, regional 34 00:00:52,710 --> 00:00:54,710 and local governments. 35 00:00:54,710 --> 00:00:56,099 The development of the modern city 36 00:00:56,099 --> 00:00:58,179 has always been, and continues to be, 37 00:00:58,179 --> 00:00:59,729 intimately tied to the interests 38 00:00:59,729 --> 00:01:01,710 of capitalists and the ruling class. 39 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:03,570 Many of the cities that exist today 40 00:01:03,570 --> 00:01:04,640 first emerged back in 41 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,450 the 18th and 19th century, 42 00:01:06,450 --> 00:01:07,370 often in tandem with 43 00:01:07,370 --> 00:01:08,470 the development and spread 44 00:01:08,470 --> 00:01:09,800 of industrial manufacturing 45 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,560 and resource extraction. 46 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:13,380 Early capitalists required 47 00:01:13,380 --> 00:01:15,250 massive numbers of workers to toil 48 00:01:15,250 --> 00:01:16,680 in their factories and mines, 49 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,640 and so people were forced off the land 50 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,690 and into concentrated urban populations, 51 00:01:20,690 --> 00:01:21,660 where they often lived 52 00:01:21,660 --> 00:01:23,160 in squalor and misery. 53 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:24,770 In much of the Global South, 54 00:01:24,770 --> 00:01:26,750 this phenomenon is still taking place, 55 00:01:26,750 --> 00:01:28,650 as farmers and Indigenous communities 56 00:01:28,650 --> 00:01:30,100 are pushed off their lands and forced 57 00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:31,920 to move to cities to work in factories 58 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,890 or precarious jobs in informal 59 00:01:33,890 --> 00:01:35,640 and black market economies. 60 00:01:35,950 --> 00:01:38,260 In 2014, the UN estimated that 61 00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:40,050 for the first time in human history, 62 00:01:40,050 --> 00:01:42,470 more than half of us lived in cities. 63 00:01:42,470 --> 00:01:44,420 This trend is only set to increase.. 64 00:01:44,420 --> 00:01:46,350 and by far the fastest rate of urban 65 00:01:46,350 --> 00:01:48,000 population growth is occurring in 66 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,080 sprawling and overcrowded 67 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:50,540 mega-slums. 68 00:01:50,540 --> 00:01:52,380 Meanwhile, in the Global North, 69 00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:54,180 today's metropolitan cities have become 70 00:01:54,180 --> 00:01:55,760 the command and control centres 71 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:57,590 for transnational corporations, 72 00:01:57,590 --> 00:01:59,080 hubs of global finance, 73 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:00,780 and incubators of the dynamic new 74 00:02:00,780 --> 00:02:02,473 flag-bearers of the so-called 75 00:02:02,473 --> 00:02:03,886 information economy. 76 00:02:04,126 --> 00:02:05,370 Yet at the same time, 77 00:02:05,370 --> 00:02:07,030 decades of corporate off-shoring 78 00:02:07,030 --> 00:02:08,790 and neoliberal structural adjustments 79 00:02:08,790 --> 00:02:10,030 have created deep reservoirs 80 00:02:10,030 --> 00:02:11,610 of inequality. 81 00:02:11,610 --> 00:02:13,623 Gentrification is a byproduct 82 00:02:13,623 --> 00:02:14,836 of this contradiction. 83 00:02:14,836 --> 00:02:15,910 A process whereby cities 84 00:02:15,910 --> 00:02:16,655 and neighbourhoods 85 00:02:16,655 --> 00:02:17,640 regenerate themselves 86 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:19,370 by displacing working-class people 87 00:02:19,370 --> 00:02:21,230 to suburban ghettos in order to make 88 00:02:21,230 --> 00:02:22,670 more room for the lavish lifestyles 89 00:02:22,670 --> 00:02:23,591 of the rich. 90 00:02:23,591 --> 00:02:25,510 Over the next thirty minutes, 91 00:02:25,510 --> 00:02:27,000 we will look at gentrification 92 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,290 as a structural phenomenon, 93 00:02:28,290 --> 00:02:29,850 and examine how it is playing out 94 00:02:29,850 --> 00:02:31,000 in three megacities: 95 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,530 Toronto, New Orleans and Istanbul. 96 00:02:33,530 --> 00:02:34,599 Along the way, 97 00:02:34,599 --> 00:02:36,099 we will highlight the voices of a number 98 00:02:36,099 --> 00:02:37,489 of individuals who are organizing 99 00:02:37,489 --> 00:02:38,499 with their neighbours, 100 00:02:38,499 --> 00:02:39,649 fighting back against the state 101 00:02:39,649 --> 00:02:41,109 and corporate developers... 102 00:02:41,109 --> 00:02:42,769 and making a whole lot of trouble. 103 00:03:11,179 --> 00:03:14,569 Since the financial crisis in 2008, 104 00:03:14,569 --> 00:03:16,019 we’ve increasingly seen 105 00:03:16,019 --> 00:03:17,932 the financialization of 106 00:03:17,932 --> 00:03:20,296 the rental housing sector. 107 00:03:20,296 --> 00:03:21,296 Financialization is a bit of 108 00:03:21,296 --> 00:03:22,420 a complicated term. 109 00:03:22,420 --> 00:03:24,689 What it really refers to is this shift 110 00:03:24,689 --> 00:03:26,579 in the way that capitalism 111 00:03:26,579 --> 00:03:27,829 has been operating, 112 00:03:27,829 --> 00:03:29,219 and a change that's taken place 113 00:03:29,219 --> 00:03:30,669 since about the 1970’s. 114 00:03:31,189 --> 00:03:33,359 So a shift from capital accumulation 115 00:03:33,359 --> 00:03:35,059 coming from commodity production 116 00:03:35,059 --> 00:03:37,239 to coming through financial channels. 117 00:03:37,239 --> 00:03:39,240 And what this has also involved is 118 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,070 an increasing role for finance capital 119 00:03:41,070 --> 00:03:42,470 in other parts of the economy where 120 00:03:42,470 --> 00:03:43,779 it hadn’t previously played 121 00:03:43,779 --> 00:03:45,099 a prominent role, 122 00:03:45,099 --> 00:03:46,760 and then enforcing on those 123 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,350 parts of the economy, logics of finance. 124 00:03:50,790 --> 00:03:54,120 Today, big money is made in cities. 125 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,040 The real estate market is currently 126 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:57,210 the largest sector of 127 00:03:57,210 --> 00:03:58,850 the Canadian economy. 128 00:03:58,850 --> 00:04:00,300 If you look at the biggest landlords 129 00:04:00,300 --> 00:04:02,900 in the country, 18 out of the top 20 130 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:04,320 would fall under the category 131 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,359 of these financialized landlords. 132 00:04:06,579 --> 00:04:08,260 You see things like hedge funds 133 00:04:08,260 --> 00:04:09,980 and pension funds that are invested 134 00:04:09,980 --> 00:04:12,139 in different local housing markets 135 00:04:12,139 --> 00:04:13,959 because it’s seen as a relatively 136 00:04:13,959 --> 00:04:15,519 safe investment. 137 00:04:15,519 --> 00:04:17,280 Fincialized investment in Canada 138 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:20,080 has been growing since the 1990’s. 139 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,270 Real Estate Investment Trusts 140 00:04:22,270 --> 00:04:23,750 are increasingly taking over 141 00:04:23,750 --> 00:04:25,750 the rental housing market. 142 00:04:25,750 --> 00:04:27,440 Since 1996, 143 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:28,690 Real Estate Investment Trusts, 144 00:04:28,690 --> 00:04:29,980 or REIT’s, in particular, 145 00:04:29,980 --> 00:04:32,470 have grown from owning zero 146 00:04:32,470 --> 00:04:33,980 multi-family apartment suites, 147 00:04:33,980 --> 00:04:36,170 to owning over 160 000. 148 00:04:36,170 --> 00:04:37,630 Such that now they own 149 00:04:37,630 --> 00:04:41,080 about ten percent of privately-built 150 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,600 multi-family housing in the country. 151 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:44,589 Real Estate Investment Trusts 152 00:04:44,589 --> 00:04:47,139 allow investors to pool capital together 153 00:04:47,139 --> 00:04:49,349 to purchase real estate 154 00:04:49,349 --> 00:04:50,859 and the real estate itself 155 00:04:50,859 --> 00:04:52,219 then gets managed in a way 156 00:04:52,219 --> 00:04:53,919 to try and increase its value 157 00:04:53,919 --> 00:04:55,322 and generate profits 158 00:04:55,322 --> 00:04:56,365 back to those investors. 159 00:04:56,365 --> 00:04:57,979 So real estate investment trusts 160 00:04:57,979 --> 00:04:59,929 have access to tremendous amounts 161 00:04:59,929 --> 00:05:02,329 of capital and can buy large portfolios 162 00:05:02,329 --> 00:05:03,970 of buildings as they grow. 163 00:05:03,970 --> 00:05:05,630 And then they can take advantage of 164 00:05:05,630 --> 00:05:07,070 economies of scale to make 165 00:05:07,070 --> 00:05:08,450 those buildings more profitable. 166 00:05:08,450 --> 00:05:10,960 What they call this is "re-positioning." 167 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,749 This has created a situation where 168 00:05:13,749 --> 00:05:16,019 all landlords across the board 169 00:05:16,019 --> 00:05:18,610 have been forced to take on 170 00:05:18,610 --> 00:05:21,520 certain strategies to increase profits 171 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,960 in order to compete on that market. 172 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:25,190 Housing prices have been going up 173 00:05:25,190 --> 00:05:26,430 in Canada and indeed 174 00:05:26,430 --> 00:05:27,940 other parts of the world. 175 00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:30,700 Canada’s been hit particularly hard. 176 00:05:30,700 --> 00:05:33,099 One of the hottest real estate markets 177 00:05:33,099 --> 00:05:35,139 where we’ve seen the largest increase 178 00:05:35,139 --> 00:05:38,599 in property values has been Toronto. 179 00:05:38,599 --> 00:05:39,690 In Ontario, 180 00:05:39,690 --> 00:05:41,570 the government sets an annual 181 00:05:41,570 --> 00:05:42,790 rent guideline. 182 00:05:42,790 --> 00:05:44,799 This is the amount that landlords 183 00:05:44,799 --> 00:05:46,839 are legally permitted to 184 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,569 raise rents for sitting tenants. 185 00:05:49,569 --> 00:05:53,370 The guideline in 2017 was 1.5 percent. 186 00:05:53,370 --> 00:05:56,399 Yet we saw a 6% overall 187 00:05:56,399 --> 00:05:58,589 increase in rents. 188 00:05:59,129 --> 00:06:01,479 And so landlords have been able 189 00:06:01,479 --> 00:06:04,459 to raise rents beyond 190 00:06:04,459 --> 00:06:06,169 the provincial guideline 191 00:06:06,169 --> 00:06:09,180 primarily through vacancy decontrol. 192 00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:12,790 Since the 90’s we’ve had no rent control 193 00:06:12,790 --> 00:06:14,520 on vacant units. 194 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,159 So this creates a pressure 195 00:06:16,159 --> 00:06:18,129 to try and make units vacant 196 00:06:18,129 --> 00:06:19,989 so that the rent can be increased 197 00:06:19,989 --> 00:06:21,750 up to whatever the market will bear. 198 00:06:21,750 --> 00:06:23,540 In the last year, 199 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:25,750 the average price for a one bedroom 200 00:06:25,750 --> 00:06:28,750 unit in Toronto has increased 201 00:06:28,750 --> 00:06:30,940 to over $2000. 202 00:06:31,530 --> 00:06:32,659 The pattern that we’ve seen 203 00:06:32,659 --> 00:06:35,619 has been one of increasing social and 204 00:06:35,619 --> 00:06:37,459 spacial inequality in this city. 205 00:06:37,459 --> 00:06:40,439 So a pattern towards gentrification 206 00:06:40,439 --> 00:06:42,199 in the urban core. 207 00:06:42,709 --> 00:06:43,949 The demographic data 208 00:06:43,949 --> 00:06:45,539 is really very clear. 209 00:06:45,539 --> 00:06:48,969 It shows that downtown Toronto 210 00:06:48,969 --> 00:06:52,339 and the corridors along subway lines 211 00:06:52,339 --> 00:06:54,649 are essentially enclaves 212 00:06:54,649 --> 00:06:56,479 for rich white people. 213 00:06:56,479 --> 00:06:59,660 The majority of working-class, 214 00:06:59,660 --> 00:07:02,360 heavily racialized population 215 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:03,710 is being pushed out 216 00:07:03,710 --> 00:07:05,250 into the inner suburbs 217 00:07:05,250 --> 00:07:07,900 or is struggling to stay 218 00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:10,960 in a few remaining areas 219 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,720 in and around downtown Toronto, 220 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:15,810 including places like Parkdale 221 00:07:15,810 --> 00:07:18,950 and the Queen and Sherbourne area. 222 00:07:18,950 --> 00:07:21,499 Rising house prices in Toronto 223 00:07:21,499 --> 00:07:24,169 have also created a situation where 224 00:07:24,169 --> 00:07:26,829 many young professionals in the market 225 00:07:26,829 --> 00:07:28,500 for their first homes 226 00:07:28,500 --> 00:07:30,130 have been priced out of the city. 227 00:07:30,130 --> 00:07:31,379 So we’re seeing a lot of young 228 00:07:31,379 --> 00:07:34,499 professional people trying to buy property 229 00:07:34,499 --> 00:07:36,319 in cities like Hamilton. 230 00:07:36,519 --> 00:07:38,509 The city of Hamilton’s cool quotient 231 00:07:38,509 --> 00:07:40,459 has been on the rise for some time, 232 00:07:40,459 --> 00:07:42,030 but the prosperity that’s got some 233 00:07:42,030 --> 00:07:43,820 celebrating has others worried about 234 00:07:43,820 --> 00:07:45,650 whether the urban renaissance there 235 00:07:45,650 --> 00:07:47,220 could be leaving some people behind. 236 00:07:47,220 --> 00:07:54,499 Hamilton is a mid size city in southern Ontario and for most of its history, Hamilton was 237 00:07:54,499 --> 00:07:55,819 a large steel manufacturer. 238 00:07:55,819 --> 00:08:00,419 It’s still known as the “Steel Town” although for years now, the steel industry 239 00:08:00,419 --> 00:08:05,030 has been shrinking, and now it’s trying to essentially recreate itself as a “artistic 240 00:08:05,030 --> 00:08:10,550 hub” and kind of draw in creative professionals from the greater Toronto Area. 241 00:08:10,550 --> 00:08:16,740 Because of Hamilton’s physical proximity to Toronto, we have kind of a secondary wave 242 00:08:16,740 --> 00:08:19,669 of gentrification happening in Hamilton. 243 00:08:19,669 --> 00:08:27,301 The province of Ontario has regional population targets and a general idea about where they 244 00:08:27,301 --> 00:08:29,979 want to see population growth happening. 245 00:08:29,979 --> 00:08:34,700 In order to facilitate this and in order to integrate some of the metropolitan areas, 246 00:08:34,700 --> 00:08:39,328 they’ve invested in larger scale transportation infrastructure. 247 00:08:39,328 --> 00:08:43,889 One such initiative is the Go Transit Network which is a fleet of busses and trains which 248 00:08:43,889 --> 00:08:47,459 link commuters from the greater Toronto Area. 249 00:08:47,459 --> 00:08:51,600 Hamilton has two new Go Transit Hubs in the works. 250 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,430 One in the east and one in the north of downtown. 251 00:08:54,430 --> 00:08:58,890 Both of these are aimed at making Hamilton more attractive as a potential bedroom community 252 00:08:58,890 --> 00:08:59,890 of Toronto. 253 00:08:59,890 --> 00:09:05,970 And beyond that, the province is also funding a light rail transit or LRT line in Hamilton 254 00:09:05,970 --> 00:09:12,100 which is going to run the length of the lower city from Mcmaster University in the west, 255 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:16,240 out to Stoney Creek in the very east end of the city. 256 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:21,620 This project is really going to open up the city to gentrification. 257 00:09:21,620 --> 00:09:29,250 This is essentially a state led strategy of urban intensification and the levels of development 258 00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:33,700 that accompany it. 259 00:09:33,700 --> 00:09:37,420 Despite the upheaval and mass displacement that it brings in its wake, gentrification 260 00:09:37,420 --> 00:09:42,560 is usually a pretty gradual process, and one that traditionally tends to take place in 261 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:43,560 stages. 262 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:49,390 Stereotypically, it starts with artists, students and hipsters of various stripes moving into 263 00:09:49,390 --> 00:09:55,355 a working-class neighbourhood, drawn to the area by its cheap rents. 264 00:09:55,355 --> 00:09:59,070 These new arrivals bring with them increased social capital and disposable income, and 265 00:09:59,070 --> 00:10:00,690 soon a host of new cafes, restaurants, bars and art galleries begin to spring up to cater 266 00:10:00,690 --> 00:10:01,690 to their tastes. 267 00:10:01,690 --> 00:10:07,440 From there, the area starts to get a buzz, and real estate agents begin promoting it 268 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:08,720 as an up-and-coming neighbourhood. 269 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:15,260 Homeowners decide to cash in on rising property values, while long-standing working-class 270 00:10:15,260 --> 00:10:19,090 and racialized tenants are priced, or otherwise pushed out. 271 00:10:19,090 --> 00:10:23,700 More middle-class residents move in, rents go up... and the cycle repeats until the area 272 00:10:23,700 --> 00:10:26,740 is completely transformed into a sterile playground for the rich. 273 00:10:26,740 --> 00:10:30,960 That's how the story goes, anyway. 274 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:36,360 In reality, this oversimplified formula for gentrification ignores the important role 275 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:37,360 that developers, finance capital, police and urban planners at various levels of government 276 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:38,360 play in coordinating the process. 277 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:39,360 But even when all those variables are factored in, the fact remains that gentrification generally 278 00:10:39,360 --> 00:11:03,430 still takes years to play out... for the simple reason that it's hard to displace large numbers 279 00:11:03,430 --> 00:11:07,920 of poor people from their homes in one fell swoop. 280 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,350 Except of course... when the powerful forces pushing gentrification get a little helping 281 00:11:11,350 --> 00:11:12,350 hand from the even more powerful forces of Mother Nature. 282 00:11:12,350 --> 00:11:13,399 You’ve got Pagoda’s over there, you’ve got the Church of Yoga over here, you’ve 283 00:11:13,399 --> 00:11:16,029 got the Uber building down the street, so you’ve got all these little spots here and 284 00:11:16,029 --> 00:11:21,149 there that are quickly making it so this is actually a high traffic area of primarily 285 00:11:21,149 --> 00:11:24,650 white people that are not from here carrying yoga mats. 286 00:11:24,650 --> 00:11:29,920 That’s what this area, it used to be a very poor area, got replaced with. 287 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,970 I’ve seen this city go through changes in my life. 288 00:11:34,970 --> 00:11:41,750 The building of the Crescent City Connection- that bridge transformed this community in 289 00:11:41,750 --> 00:11:43,780 a multitude of ways. 290 00:11:43,780 --> 00:11:45,839 With that bridge came urban renewal. 291 00:11:45,839 --> 00:11:53,750 One of the oldest African Communities was displaced in order to build a housing project. 292 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:57,139 The third would be Betsy, Hurricane Betsy. 293 00:11:57,139 --> 00:12:02,410 Because of Besty, people that would normally be still living down by the Bayou or the 9th 294 00:12:02,410 --> 00:12:05,339 ward, would have just remained in those areas. 295 00:12:05,339 --> 00:12:12,210 But because of the devastation of those communities, it forced them to come into a community that 296 00:12:12,210 --> 00:12:16,630 was being rebuilt and reborn, and then Katrina. 297 00:12:16,630 --> 00:12:22,389 Out of all of them, Katrina was the worst. 298 00:12:22,389 --> 00:12:25,870 It had the most devastating impact. 299 00:12:25,870 --> 00:12:27,410 I moved to New Orleans in 2014. 300 00:12:27,410 --> 00:12:32,829 I’m from Venezuela and my country’s consulate had closed down in Miami so I came here to 301 00:12:32,829 --> 00:12:33,829 get my passport. 302 00:12:33,829 --> 00:12:38,089 There was also some immigration restrictions that encouraged me to move here. 303 00:12:38,089 --> 00:12:44,199 A big factor was connected to gentrification, which is moving here because housing was more 304 00:12:44,199 --> 00:12:50,399 affordable after Katrina and because employment was something I could find here more accessible 305 00:12:50,399 --> 00:12:52,170 than in South Florida. 306 00:12:52,170 --> 00:12:58,740 Because of Katrina and the great displacement of local communities after Katrina and during 307 00:12:58,740 --> 00:13:05,370 Katrina, to be a guest in this city and to be a resident in this city post Katrina, and 308 00:13:05,370 --> 00:13:10,860 be a respectful guest, you have to be very aware of the racial dynamics of who has been 309 00:13:10,860 --> 00:13:15,700 displaced and who has been the demographic replacing the people who are no longer able 310 00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:25,360 to come back to the city, alongside with millions of dynamics that go anywhere from microagressions 311 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:30,440 to being a major player of gentrification and in the systems that are negatively impacting 312 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:36,020 and negatively affecting the communities here. 313 00:13:36,020 --> 00:13:42,410 Katrina was also the very first major disaster where Fema came under homeland security. 314 00:13:42,410 --> 00:13:50,130 The first two weeks after Katrina, it was all about security. 315 00:13:50,130 --> 00:13:54,910 You know, it felt like all those that matter had left. 316 00:13:54,910 --> 00:13:58,769 Those who was left in the city, don’t even really matter. 317 00:13:58,769 --> 00:14:01,029 And they made that crystal clear by their action. 318 00:14:01,029 --> 00:14:06,240 With that and the advent of disaster capitalism. 319 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:15,900 Seeing everything from trash removal, to the removal of bodies- was held up until certain 320 00:14:15,900 --> 00:14:17,940 individuals got they contracts. 321 00:14:17,940 --> 00:14:25,649 You had billions of dollars that was allocated to a city with a population of less than half 322 00:14:25,649 --> 00:14:26,649 a million. 323 00:14:26,649 --> 00:14:27,649 Billions. 324 00:14:27,649 --> 00:14:32,600 But it impacted no one that really had the needs. 325 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,860 The needs of the community have gone unaddressed and instead what has been prioritized has 326 00:14:37,860 --> 00:14:43,920 been profit and the passing of policies that have been geared towards making profit from 327 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,670 the displacement of people. 328 00:14:45,670 --> 00:14:50,210 Looking at prisons and the jail systems now, and how much of the money that the government 329 00:14:50,210 --> 00:14:58,730 gives is still going towards allegedly restoring or rebuilding or expanding the jail or the 330 00:14:58,730 --> 00:15:04,520 prisons or rebuilding or expanding new hospitals which are more for profit and they’re not 331 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:05,759 as affordable. 332 00:15:05,759 --> 00:15:11,860 With all these examples you can see how the city systemically is still taking money from 333 00:15:11,860 --> 00:15:16,949 the disaster and still profiting from the displacement of the community here and investing 334 00:15:16,949 --> 00:15:22,420 that money in for profit projects that are geared towards tourists or geared towards 335 00:15:22,420 --> 00:15:29,560 upper class guests or upper class residents as opposed to working class communities and 336 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:39,980 poor communities, and particularly communities of colour which was the majority of people 337 00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:40,980 in New Orleans before Katrina. 338 00:15:40,980 --> 00:15:41,980 People are being priced out of their homes. 339 00:15:41,980 --> 00:15:48,930 A unit that was maybe 500 during pre-Katrina, now was somewhere around 12. 340 00:15:48,930 --> 00:15:55,560 Developers are coming in, and now you have the advent of the Air B&B, you know you have 341 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:01,620 a New Orleans that is constantly being transformed around us. 342 00:16:01,620 --> 00:16:08,950 You see a lot of whites and others coming in to predominantly African American community. 343 00:16:08,950 --> 00:16:09,950 Directly after Katrina, everybody basically had to evacuate the city. 344 00:16:09,950 --> 00:16:15,980 A lot of the housing that could have been restored, was not restored. 345 00:16:15,980 --> 00:16:22,420 Instead it was taken down and new housing that’s not affordable was built up or businesses 346 00:16:22,420 --> 00:16:23,540 were built up. 347 00:16:23,540 --> 00:16:28,910 In general, we’ve seen almost no efforts to bring back people that were displaced by 348 00:16:28,910 --> 00:16:37,779 Katrina, and instead we’re seeing efforts to continue to profit from making more tourist 349 00:16:37,779 --> 00:16:38,779 hot spots. 350 00:16:38,779 --> 00:16:42,300 The industry that’s really running the city is tourism. 351 00:16:42,300 --> 00:16:43,300 White tourism. 352 00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:45,819 And it’s controlled by white dollars. 353 00:16:45,819 --> 00:16:51,519 And they control not only the white tourism, but they control about 90 percent of the black 354 00:16:51,519 --> 00:16:52,519 tourism. 355 00:16:52,519 --> 00:16:57,420 A lot of the money that’s being given to New Orleans from the government is going to 356 00:16:57,420 --> 00:17:03,190 the expansion of prisons or the attempts at building new prisons. 357 00:17:03,190 --> 00:17:08,140 It’s a completely a for-profit organization, so a lot of the money is being either misplaced 358 00:17:08,140 --> 00:17:18,859 into making more profit from poverty and crime and displacement, or it’s being put into 359 00:17:18,859 --> 00:17:31,110 development that is to better assist the communities that are not from New Orleans, so it’s being 360 00:17:31,110 --> 00:17:45,750 put to renovate big businesses or to make the business sectors and the upper class sector 361 00:17:45,750 --> 00:18:11,620 and the tourism sector in the city better and it’s not being distributed in the places 362 00:18:11,620 --> 00:18:15,600 that it’s the most needed. 363 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:24,340 This is a city that’s ran by the police because it’s ran by tourism. 364 00:18:24,340 --> 00:18:32,809 And in order for tourism needs to survive, it’s got to be protected. 365 00:18:32,809 --> 00:18:43,270 But you try to tell the police- it don’t have nowhere near the impact of poverty. 366 00:18:43,270 --> 00:18:45,760 That’s the most cruel thing. 367 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:56,530 You know, you be living on a block, where there only one person got a Mercedes, you 368 00:18:56,530 --> 00:18:57,530 dig? 369 00:18:57,530 --> 00:18:58,690 And you catchin’ a bus. 370 00:18:58,690 --> 00:19:05,480 Ten years ago, the international financial system nearly collapsed. 371 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:13,780 A historically unprecedented housing bubble in the United States burst, setting off a 372 00:19:13,780 --> 00:19:36,250 chain reaction that ended up threatening the institutional pillars of global capitalism 373 00:19:36,250 --> 00:19:39,630 itself. 374 00:19:39,630 --> 00:19:52,231 As millions of people lost their homes, governments around the world scrambled to bail out the 375 00:19:52,231 --> 00:19:57,360 banks and pump money back into the global economy. 376 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,010 But rather than spending that money on rebuilding the local communities that they'd just destroyed, 377 00:20:00,010 --> 00:20:02,130 the banks poured that money into a number of so-called 'emerging economies'. 378 00:20:02,130 --> 00:20:03,130 A prime example being Turkey. 379 00:20:03,130 --> 00:20:04,720 Back in 2008, Turkey was already in the midst of a construction boom, and the flooding in 380 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:05,720 of billions of dollars in foreign investment only quickened the pace. 381 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:06,720 In the five years between 2011 and 2016, house prices in Turkey doubled. 382 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:07,720 Much of this growth was concentrated in Istanbul, the sprawling metropolis of over 15 million 383 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:08,720 people that once served as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, and which 384 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:09,720 for over two thousands years has remained the primary bridge between the continents 385 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:10,720 of Europe and Asia. 386 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:11,720 The dizzying pace of urban transformation in this former Ottoman capital has been closely 387 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:12,720 linked to the dictatorial ambitions of the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 388 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:13,720 who has sought to use the reconstruction of Istanbul as a tool for consolidating power 389 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:14,720 around a new national identity. 390 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:15,720 If we talk about the global capitalist crisis, it’s obvious that the states are trying 391 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:16,720 their best to get over this crisis with the tool of urban gentrification because they 392 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:17,720 have the companies, they have the law making. 393 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:18,720 The capitalization process of Istanbul city is not a new thing, it is a long term project 394 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:19,720 of the state. 395 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:20,720 We are talking about over 50 years. 396 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:21,720 The last 12 years, the process get faster in the government of the AKP. 397 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:22,720 These urban gentrification projects always has been resource of income for the state. 398 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:23,720 These projects has been widely spread and they started to change the face of the city 399 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:24,720 and now they are making it more and more easier to make this. 400 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:29,270 In the beginning, it was only possible to destroy that building and make a new one with 401 00:20:29,270 --> 00:20:33,190 a consensus of all people living in. 402 00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:40,520 But now, they make it majority of people and the state of emergency also helps to build 403 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,460 this legal process more and more easier. 404 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:50,890 For last four or five years, they are nationalizing the private spaces. 405 00:20:50,890 --> 00:20:57,450 By these practices, they are trying to change the type of capitalist power. 406 00:20:57,450 --> 00:21:03,539 It is also politic of homogenizing the people. 407 00:21:03,539 --> 00:21:11,090 Deleting all cultures and force them to be Muslim, force them to be Sunia Muslim, and 408 00:21:11,090 --> 00:21:14,929 Turkish people, which is the identity of the state. 409 00:21:14,929 --> 00:21:23,590 For Istanbul, you can see there are big walls which are coming from Ottoman or Byzantine 410 00:21:23,590 --> 00:21:24,590 time. 411 00:21:24,590 --> 00:21:28,809 Out of the walls, they have built the slums. 412 00:21:28,809 --> 00:21:35,640 The builders of the Gejekondu Areas, slum areas, are so called minorities. 413 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:42,070 It’s not just Alevis and Kurds, but also Roma people. 414 00:21:42,070 --> 00:21:47,790 People who had immigrated from village to big cities like Istanbul. 415 00:21:47,790 --> 00:21:54,440 From the beginning, these neighbourhoods like Gazi Neighbouhood, like Bir Mayis Neighbourhood, 416 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:55,790 and CHKMUNTLU? 417 00:21:55,790 --> 00:22:02,650 All these neighbourhoods were built with the participation of the whole community. 418 00:22:02,650 --> 00:22:06,260 And caring and thinking about of all the needs of that community. 419 00:22:06,260 --> 00:22:13,150 So, these slums means more than just spaces to live, but it’s also a way of relationship 420 00:22:13,150 --> 00:22:18,000 that people are caring about each other. 421 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:27,529 During 1960’s and 1980’s, many revolutionary organizations have appeared, and this is important 422 00:22:27,529 --> 00:22:35,179 because next residents of these regions will be the organizers of the first actions against 423 00:22:35,179 --> 00:22:41,610 the destruction policy of the state. 424 00:22:41,610 --> 00:23:06,640 The Taksim riots started against the construction of a mall. 425 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,420 The Gezi Park protests became so popular. 426 00:23:10,420 --> 00:23:24,080 The rioters of Taksim/Gezi achieved the collectivization of the park, and this is a great example of 427 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:31,350 how we can struggle against the gentrification politics, against the space politics of the 428 00:23:31,350 --> 00:23:32,710 states and the companies. 429 00:23:32,710 --> 00:23:38,950 The meaning of the park, the meaning of the space has been changed. 430 00:23:38,950 --> 00:23:46,990 People got the control of the park and the space has a political meaning. 431 00:23:46,990 --> 00:23:57,980 When we look what happened after Gezi, that riots, the people coming together and the 432 00:23:57,980 --> 00:24:00,680 occupation of the Gezi Park becomes something to hold and many people go on resisting after 433 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,500 the Gezi Park was evicted. 434 00:24:03,500 --> 00:24:13,090 The social resistance was very high and people were not afraid to go on the streets anymore, 435 00:24:13,090 --> 00:24:26,809 and that also affected in a way urban gentrification protests and many other protests, but as the 436 00:24:26,809 --> 00:24:31,700 oppression become more and more visible, and that social opposition became less and less 437 00:24:31,700 --> 00:24:37,790 seen, that also has its effects on urban gentrification. 438 00:24:37,790 --> 00:24:41,390 During one week, the Turkish state have been killed over 10 young people. 439 00:24:41,390 --> 00:24:48,360 We are not just talking about of a day, we are talking about years where people have 440 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:53,190 been oppressed politically, socially and economically. 441 00:24:53,190 --> 00:24:59,790 One of the first things that they are trying to break is the relationship in these neighbourhoods. 442 00:24:59,790 --> 00:25:03,450 The culture of resistance and the culture of solidarity. 443 00:25:03,450 --> 00:25:10,380 It is not just a struggle against the gentrification projects. 444 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:20,880 It is against the violence and the terror of the state. 445 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,320 These days, gentrification can often seem inevitable. 446 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,039 It is, after all, a constant process firmly anchored upon the sanctity of private property 447 00:25:29,039 --> 00:25:36,880 and the unshakeable logic of the free market. 448 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:45,289 According to this cold logic, homes, and the land that they are built on, are commodities 449 00:25:45,289 --> 00:25:46,429 like any other. 450 00:25:46,429 --> 00:25:50,030 It follows, then, that they can be bought and sold... and if the people living there 451 00:25:50,030 --> 00:25:52,980 don't hold the deed, there's not much they can do to stop it. 452 00:25:52,980 --> 00:25:55,899 Except, of course, there is. 453 00:25:55,899 --> 00:26:00,380 Because despite what capitalist may claim, our homes are not commodities like any other. 454 00:26:00,380 --> 00:26:02,340 They’re much more than that. 455 00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:07,030 People defending their homes have been primary agents of struggle for the entirety of human 456 00:26:07,030 --> 00:26:08,030 history. 457 00:26:08,030 --> 00:26:11,970 From anti-colonial struggles waged by Indigenous nations, to peasants taking up arms to defend 458 00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:16,270 their lands from enclosure and theft... people tend to fight hard for their homes. 459 00:26:16,270 --> 00:26:19,980 And while things in cities are different, and often much more complicated... the basic 460 00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:21,500 principle is the same. 461 00:26:21,500 --> 00:26:27,000 I think that it’s important for revolutionaries and for anti-capitalists and anarchists who 462 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,370 want to fight a process like gentrification which is multifaceted to actually be embedded 463 00:26:31,370 --> 00:26:33,870 in the communities that are affected by gentrification. 464 00:26:33,870 --> 00:26:38,440 The only way of actually stopping gentrification is getting out in front of it, and in order 465 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,789 to get out in front of it, you need to actually be living there. 466 00:26:42,789 --> 00:26:46,679 You need to have social relationships with the people who are going to be displaced, 467 00:26:46,679 --> 00:26:48,840 and you need to help with them to fight. 468 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,140 And you know this is not, the sexiest type of work. 469 00:26:52,140 --> 00:26:58,049 You have to come in very humble and really try and support the work that’s being done 470 00:26:58,049 --> 00:27:03,159 by the people that are the most affected and not trying to come into anyone’s community 471 00:27:03,159 --> 00:27:07,789 with like a saviour complex, especially if you’re white, to try and fix people’s 472 00:27:07,789 --> 00:27:11,970 problems because usually there’s been communities of people that have been facing those issues 473 00:27:11,970 --> 00:27:15,650 for decades, if not hundreds of years. 474 00:27:15,650 --> 00:27:22,270 I think that the left are often looking for shortcuts. 475 00:27:22,270 --> 00:27:29,179 Unfortunately, currently, the left is largely based around academic spaces and, you know, 476 00:27:29,179 --> 00:27:34,279 is not necessarily associated with the fabric of working class people’s lives. 477 00:27:34,279 --> 00:27:39,330 Ground level tenant driven organizing in buildings is what’s actually making a lot of change. 478 00:27:39,330 --> 00:27:43,929 People in their building can work together build a moment, and fight in a way that they 479 00:27:43,929 --> 00:27:49,600 can stop these companies from exploiting them and kick them out of their homes. 480 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:54,360 Hundreds of residents here in Parkdale are heading into their second month refusing to 481 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:57,210 pay rent in protest of rent hikes 482 00:27:57,210 --> 00:28:02,919 Build working class organizations that are independent from politicians, social service 483 00:28:02,919 --> 00:28:04,490 agencies, or non-profits. 484 00:28:04,490 --> 00:28:10,260 You can’t be beholden to anybody’s interests other than our own. 485 00:28:10,260 --> 00:28:16,190 It’s not going to be benevolent on the part of landlords, or a change of heart on the 486 00:28:16,190 --> 00:28:27,789 part of policy makers that’s going to lead to the types of changes that tenants need 487 00:28:27,789 --> 00:28:28,789 to see. 488 00:28:28,789 --> 00:28:29,789 You have to create your daily life against system. 489 00:28:29,789 --> 00:28:30,789 You have to organize your own ways with people that are not like the capitalist relationships. 490 00:28:30,789 --> 00:28:31,789 You have to create solidarity. 491 00:28:31,789 --> 00:28:32,789 You have to care about each other. 492 00:28:32,789 --> 00:28:33,789 You have to take the responsibility of each other and you have to be organized, thinking 493 00:28:33,789 --> 00:28:41,940 about the needs of your community and the people in your community. 494 00:28:41,940 --> 00:28:52,039 That comes with responsibility of constantly trying to bring visibility and attention and 495 00:28:52,039 --> 00:28:56,970 voice and power to the people who are actually affected by the injustices. 496 00:28:56,970 --> 00:29:02,550 Fighting for ways that people can live affordably in cities and build communities there, for 497 00:29:02,550 --> 00:29:06,080 social purposes rather than for capitalist accumulation. 498 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:12,111 People tend to be much more satisfied to just gripe about things as they exist, than to 499 00:29:12,111 --> 00:29:16,919 actually try to seek out and understand what is fuelling the process and how they might 500 00:29:16,919 --> 00:29:19,029 actually go about trying to stop it. 501 00:29:19,029 --> 00:29:22,000 Housing is allocated by the market, it’s not allocated according to social need. 502 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,750 And so, this is why you have these constant and persistent problems that don’t seem 503 00:29:25,750 --> 00:29:26,960 to go away. 504 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:34,029 Don’t be trapped in the dead ends presented to us by political and legal systems. 505 00:29:34,029 --> 00:29:37,690 We need to find our own ways to creatively struggle in our own interests. 506 00:29:37,690 --> 00:29:54,179 Everyday with your every action, you have to fight against, you have to create for your 507 00:29:54,179 --> 00:29:55,179 struggle. 508 00:29:55,179 --> 00:29:59,500 Giving struggle against the strategies of the companies but also strategies of the state. 509 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:05,790 And the state- it is an enemy that we have to struggle. 510 00:30:05,790 --> 00:30:09,500 Not just urban development projects - every front. 511 00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:11,350 You know, let the fire burn. 512 00:30:11,350 --> 00:30:14,390 They ashes is good for cultivating the land. 513 00:30:14,390 --> 00:30:16,220 You dig? 514 00:30:16,220 --> 00:30:23,560 And I’m just plant a lot of seed. 515 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,230 Grow something else up. 516 00:30:27,230 --> 00:30:31,600 In our hyper-atomized and individualistic societies, we have become incredibly isolated 517 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,660 and alienated from one another. 518 00:30:33,660 --> 00:30:38,049 Those of us living in multi-residential apartment blocks can often go years without communicating 519 00:30:38,049 --> 00:30:41,280 with our neighbours, beyond the occasional small-chat when getting on the elevator. 520 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,720 We're conditioned to keep our noses out of other people's business, and to call the cops 521 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,700 if we see someone loitering, or if the neighbours play their music too loud. 522 00:30:49,700 --> 00:30:54,720 This divide and conquer strategy is intended to keep us weak, and incapable of mounting 523 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:55,909 collective resistance to shared hardships. 524 00:30:55,909 --> 00:31:01,039 So if we are to avoid the future that capitalists have in store for us, in which our cities 525 00:31:01,039 --> 00:31:02,169 are even further transformed into geographically segregated and heavily militarized urban enclaves 526 00:31:02,169 --> 00:31:08,920 of poverty and wealth, this is a mentality we must overcome. 527 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:14,669 So at this point, we’d like to remind you that Trouble is intended to be watched in 528 00:31:14,669 --> 00:31:18,460 groups, and to be used as a resource to promote discussion and collective organizing. 529 00:31:18,460 --> 00:31:23,260 Are you interested in organizing your building, or starting a collective to fight gentrification 530 00:31:23,260 --> 00:31:24,279 in your neighbourhood? 531 00:31:24,279 --> 00:31:28,100 Consider getting together with some comrades, organizing a screening of this film, and discussing 532 00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:29,310 where to get started. 533 00:31:29,310 --> 00:31:33,179 Interested in running regular screenings of Trouble at your campus, infoshop, community 534 00:31:33,179 --> 00:31:35,309 center, or even just at home with friends? 535 00:31:35,309 --> 00:31:36,309 Become a Trouble-Maker! 536 00:31:36,309 --> 00:31:40,090 For 10 bucks a month, we’ll hook you up with an advanced copy of the show, and a screening 537 00:31:40,090 --> 00:31:43,760 kit featuring additional resources and some questions you can use to get a discussion 538 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:44,760 going. 539 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:46,720 If you can’t afford to support us financially, no worries! 540 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:51,100 You can stream and/or download all our content for free off our website: sub.media/trouble. 541 00:31:51,100 --> 00:31:58,139 If you’ve got any suggestions for show topics, or just want to get in touch, drop us a line 542 00:31:58,139 --> 00:31:59,600 at trouble@sub.media. 543 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:21,039 Stay tuned next month for our second installment in this two-part series, as we take a look 544 00:32:21,039 --> 00:32:25,790 at three more cities facing the onslaught of gentrification, and how people there are 545 00:32:25,790 --> 00:32:27,690 fighting back. 546 00:32:27,690 --> 00:32:49,409 This episode would not have been possible without the generous support of Fernando, 547 00:32:49,409 --> 00:32:51,420 and Miki. 548 00:32:51,420 --> 00:33:01,260 Now get out there, and make some trouble!