Gentrification & Displacement Conference: Plenary Keynote with Raquel Rolnik

🎥 Overview
Raquel Rolnik, Head of the Design and Planning Department and Professor at the University of São Paulo and UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing (2008-2014), delivered the last plenary keynote of the Gentrification & Displacement Conference. Joining the conference via Zoom, Professor Rolnik impassionately illustrated her latest research into the displacement and dispossession of residents in her hometown of São Paulo.

This plenary keynote occurred on October 27, 2023.

⏱ Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
2:19 - Let’s Name It: Despossessions and Displacements in Contemporary Urban Restructuring
13:43 - Case Study in São Paulo
18:07 - Collaborative Mapping of Evictions
20:06 - Rent Arrears-Based Evictions
21:11 - Possession Conflicts
25:39 - Justification for Evictions
28:14 - Downtown Homelessness, Evictions, and Displacement
31:22 - Developments, Displacements, and Evictions
33:48 - Public Urban Renewal Projects
37:13 - Where Do Displaced People Go?
38:06 - Campos Elíseos Vivo
40:13 - Q&A

💬 Connect with Us!
Website: http://www.bu.edu/ioc/
Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/buioc

🏙️ About the 2023 Gentrification & Displacement Conference
“Gentrification & Displacement, what can we do about it? An international dialogue” was a global symposium on gentrification and displacement from October 26–28, 2023. This was the first international conference on gentrification studies in over 20 years—the last one was held in 2002 in Glasgow, UK. Since then, academic publications on gentrification have taken off massively, case studies have become more global, and new types of gentrification have emerged. Anti-gentrification activism has also increased and gotten more sophisticated globally.

Yet, gentrification and its associated problems endure for marginalized peoples in urban and rural areas and both formal and informal settlements worldwide. Rapidly rising commercial and residential costs, direct and indirect displacement, racial/ethnic cleansing, socio-cultural exclusion, and discrimination are the result. Bringing together academics, activists, and others, this conference examined real solutions: What can WE ALL do about gentrification and displacement?

This event was hosted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities and the Department of Sociology.

Conference website: https://sites.bu.edu/gentrification/