Grassroots-level housing social work in a gentrifying neighbourhood among displaced residents
Keywords:
urban densification, gentrification, displacement, spatial injustice, grassroots-level housing social workAbstract
This article focuses on an urban densification process in which vulnerable residents were displaced from a rental housing area due to an upcoming renovation or demolition of the buildings. The process is examined within the framework of gentrification. The data consist of interviews with grassroots-level housing social workers who worked among the residents during the last months of the area being emptied. The narratives of the displacement process in the interviews portray the workers as having strong agency, despite the strict schedule and task assigned to them by social service managers. The workers helped the residents find new places to live and mitigated the negative consequences of involuntary displacement in many ways. The findings also shed light on the urban spatial injustice associated with these kinds of urban renewal processes. To guarantee better spatial justice and socially sustainable urban development in the future, it is crucial to proactively utilise the knowledge generated in housing social work into urban planning practices.
