GENTRIFICATION

Barcelona, 2005

photos by Eduardo Soteras

In the closing decades of the twentieth century, the cities of the developed world have been transformed beyond recognition in certain sectors of their central areas. This has sparked not only a rehabilitation of facilities but also a deep change in the social composition of the affected areas, previously popular neighborhoods whose inhabitants with predominantly working class inhabitants.

Over time this process of gentrification grew to engulf district after district until all, or the majority of the original working or low class tenants are relocated and the social character of the district changed.

In Barcelona this process began mainly in the old city district where its inhabitants, most of them elderly and /or socially misfits, were dislodged in order to allow the rehabilitation of the neighborhood. This process is ongoing.

One such district is the neighborhood of Raval, also known as the Chinese District, which has weathered over a decade of change thanks to the “rehabilitation”. One of the most recent is the reconstruction of the so called “Robadors Block” which includes, besides the construction of three rent-protected apartments for middle class people and young professionals, the opening of a four star hotel. This new project has provoked the remodeling of the adjacent streets, such as Robadors Street, forcibly ejecting many of the elderly inhabitants who are not seen as a positive reflection of the new character of the area.

“Gentrification” is a look into the lives affected by this process, those who are gone, those who has to leave, those that will stay, those that organize the resistance an also those who have arrived as new neighbors.

1. View of the Works in Robadors Block as viewed from Ave. Rambla del Raval. At the end the line of old buildings of Robadors Street.

2. Lola has been renting an apartment in the 29th of Robadors st. for more than 20 years. Soon she will be evicted and so far the promise of being able to rent a low rent official apartment has not been secured. For her, like so many others, the amount of incomes that they have will not allow her to either rent a new apartment or apply for a mortgage on one of the apartments offered in the up-and-coming Robadors Block.

4. Josefina (76) is a pensioner. She rents in the 1st floor, apartment 2nd of the 29th of Robadors Street.

5. Since her companion died she shares her apartment with Isabel (61) and Paco (64). The three of them will have to leave their home soon. They hope to be able to rent an officially protected apartment where the three of them will be able to live, but so far no official guarantee has been given on this.

7. Pedro (59) has been renting in the 29th of Robadors st. for 10 years. He makes his living from selling scrap and from a non retributive pension that he receives from the state.

The date of his ejection has been postponed constantly in the last months. So far he has no where else to go.

9. Andres (77) is a pensioner and he rents the 3rd floor of the 21st of Robadors st. since 18 years ago. He lives alone, using the rooms of his home to take care of doves that he founds in the street. He is the only neighbor remaining in the whole building, which is now being completely restored.

Despite being mobbed by people from the construction company who were trying to scare him away from the building Andres can remain in his house Even though he had to take legal action, his rent contract, which is for an indeterminate period of time (which is also the kind of contract that most of the old tenants have), has prevailed. During the last years in Barcelona, this practice of pressure and harassment to the neighbors has become very common, mainly in the cases where the renters have rent contracts for an indeterminate period of time.

11. Joanna will have to leave her shop of the corner of Robadors st. with Sant Rafael St. because the owner of the space has decided to raise the rent. A Pakistani supermarket will be opened in its place.

13. Many of the achievements in the defense of the rights of the neighbors have been thanks to the actions they themselves undertook without any help from the neighborhood associations and similar organizations. In the case of the woman of Jaume Giralt St. who received an eviction order, was denied a solution by the government, so her neighbors organized a protest in order to get an answer.

14. The day of her eviction the city hall officials were unable to get her to leave thanks to her neighbors' protesting. Finally, and thanks to the pressure made by these unofficial local bodies, she and her three children, were able to move to a low rent city government apartment.

15. The process of Gentrification also sees the arrival of new neighbors to replace those who have left. Jorda (35, Set Builder) has his workshop and house in the neighborhood. He arrived 10 years ago, when the process had just begun with the opening of the Contemporary Art Museum of Barcelona. This, together with other new projects was an indication of the change that was coming to affect the social character of the area.

16. Sara (23 years old, student) will be one of the new neighbors. She was admitted in one of the new officially protected apartments of the Robadors Block. She hopes to move in the summer of 2006.