Daphna Levine

Ph.D Candidate

The Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion

 

A New Perspective on Gentrification and Displacement:  Bat Yam Case-study

 

The urban research community tends to view gentrification-based displacement as the primary social impact of urban regeneration. This study reopens the discussion by asking whether urban regeneration does indeed work to the detriment of local homeowners, or whether it expands their opportunities for social mobility. By employing a micro-simulation model based on data pertaining to the households and the existing and planned apartments in the city, the study finds first that while low-income residents can be expected to be displaced, most of the middle-income homeowners will survive the process and benefit from a new apartment. Second, according to the simulation, only households from the top two deciles will be able to purchase or rent an apartment in the new projects as new residents. However, validating the simulation's findings vis-à-vis a control group also reveals lower-income residents, reinforcing the claim that the income index does not provide a full picture of the social impact of the process. The lecture highlights the impact on the middle deciles and the way in which the split between homeowners and others is reflected in the process of urban regeneration. This research contributes to the discourse of gentrification and displacement by shining a light on the urban regeneration process in areas with high apartment-ownership rates, revealing the role of inheritances, financial investments, and real estate ownership, which remain hidden and are not reflected in the employment income parameter, but which drive the housing market.

Co-Authors: 

1. Shai Sussman, Master's student; e-mail: shaisu@technion.ac.il, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

2. Sharon Yavo Ayalon, Post-Doctoral Associate; e-mail: sharon.ayalon@cornell.edu, The Jacobs Institute, Cornell Tech, New York, New York, USA

3. Meirav Aharon Gutman, Assistant professor; e-mail: meiravag@technion.ac.il, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

 

Bio

Architect Daphna Levine is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Daphna is engaged in the search of routes to integrate social issues into urban planning, by creating models of concrete areas for representing abstract social phenomena. Specifically, her research examines urban redevelopment as an opportunity for social mobility of the lower-middle-class. By combining cutting-edge technology (e.g. Spatial Microsimulation) and qualitative research, Daphna strives