Over the years the meaning of ‘neighborhood’ has perceived a shift in the ideas of urban planning. A neighborhood is designed or planned on one idea, that is based accordingly on the people or community it is going to facilitate or inhabited. It’s considered that a progressive neighborhood design plays a pivotal role in the urbanization of the city. Once a neighborhood is developed and it’s inhabited by a community, it’s prone to changes that may occur due to actions. In this paper, I will discuss how these actions make the neighborhood change and whether these actions are either collective (macro-level) or individual (micro-level). Neighborhood change refers to the built and communal change that occurs within the boundaries of a neighborhood, and sometimes in between neighborhoods. Now, whatever change the neighborhood has overseen, has an associate that is time. A neighborhood could change over time gradually with an increase or decrease in change, and changes could be occurring in the neighborhood actively.
The changes are observed thoroughly with a series of surveys, research, and interviews, particularly when focusing on an individual neighborhood under a set of conditions. It also includes a methodical analysis of the changes that occur in the neighborhoods and their comparison with other neighborhoods, which is based on statistics and data collected from different sources. Humans are prone to changes, and this leads them to implement or need change over time; this process could also be influenced by changes occurring within nature or their surroundings.
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Kirkwood, Atlanta is a prime example of how a neighborhood has gone through the process of gentrification in terms of housing units in just a few years. The key is to be aware of gentrification that could happen or is happening in the neighborhood so that an appropriate response could be given whether the response is to do absolutely nothing to mitigate it. But the important thing is to observe it as early as possible.
Now, the actions that ignite gentrification could be initiated by an individual action or collective action. An individual action is initiated for the improvement or upgradation of an individual’s own property or residence in a neighborhood, it could be even moving from one neighborhood to another that offers better facilities. The other way of action that could be accounted for neighborhood change is a collective, in which a group of people who have the authority or ownership possess a school of thought for a change or upgrade for the neighborhood. This change is sometimes also brought from the outer boundaries of the neighborhood. As Brown-Saracino in her book explained, people who just moved to the neighborhood are considered as the people who could change the way the neighborhood looks by making changes or revitalizing their own properties. But there are some newcomers who are would prefer to preserve the neighborhood as it is because they would want to keep it the way it is. During her research over four neighborhoods, she concludes that recently the people who are labeled as gentrifiers have had a wake-up call, that has made them appreciate the distinctive and delicate features of whether a derelict residence, deep-rooted scenery, or the people who have inhabited the neighborhood for years.
Now, whether this change or any other change in any neighborhood is either collective or individual, I think that change is initiated always by a single individual. Whether it could be only an idea or an action. As I said, humans are prone to change, they get tired or are easily amused, and that leads them to aspire for change. This has an effect on the neighborhood, maybe an individual wants to add a garden to his/her residence or is intending to migrate to a different neighborhood for better amenities. As one domino falls, others follow. This is the way humans are designed, they get amused effortlessly and want what others possess. It always comes down to one individual intending or creating a change on a singular level or small level, and it leads its way towards the change, turning into a collective change. Every individual is entitled to his/her will, which means the individual change they bring, if it doesn’t pose any threat to the neighborhood, could be allowed to happen, but as it happens, it affects the individuals around, leaving an impact on them. This could have both positive and negative effects.
Now, when these changes that are due to individual actions start affecting a collective group, a hierarchy could interfere and mitigate these changes. Sometimes it’s the hierarchy introducing a change on a collective level that could be opposed, as R. Sennet in his study demonstrated with a group of people opposing the change. It depicts that how humans are prone to resist together to a change that they don’t want on the other, if the change was from within the resistance wouldn’t be much. It always comes down to an individual’s action for a change, and it may become a collective change, but still is an individual action.
So, it could be said, an individual action brings a neighborhood change. As most actions are a depiction of an individual wanting to achieve a standard of living, more often making changes such as expanding a property or adding spaces to the residence. These small changes sooner or later affect the neighborhood.
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