Segmented Cities

EXPLORING THE GENTRIFICATION OF ELEPHANT AND CASTLE



CONTENTS 1. The early days of gentrification 2. The beneficiaries 3. Impacts on the local community 4. Lobbies against gentrification

THE EARLY DAYS OF GENTRIFICATION ‘Gentrification is the name given to Mass gentrification of London the process by which the original boroughs began in the late 70s, working-class inhabitants of an area early 90s and has been prominent are displaced and the whole social ever since. The regeneration of character of the neighbourhood is Walworth, previously one of changed. ( people of similar economic the poorest areas of London, backgrounds are prevented from sits just south of Elephant and moving to the area) The ‘gentry’ Castle towards Camberwell. The are members of the middle classes: regeneration of Walworth closely professionals and managerial people’. preceded the gentrification of From ‘Housing for People or Profit?” Elephant and Castle. - John Cowley, (1979)



In 2007 the sale and market in demolish the Elephant and Castle ex-council houses that had been shopping centre was approved privatised had gone through the in 2018, despite lobbies and roof, a flat on Pullens Estate, in longstanding local opposition. Walworth was costing £270,000. The infamous shopping centre – This gave developers the opportu- home to many local businesses nity to profit from the rising prices closed down in the July 2020 was in the area by further investment completely demolished by October and property development. Hence 2021. In its place will rise a new the extreme house prices have been town centre, including 979 new maintained since, giving way for homes and 175,000 square ft of new the mass gentrification of Elephant leisure facilities, shops cafes and and Castle. The Heygate Estate restaurants. in Walworth was demolished in 2013 and its mostly working-class resident were heartlessly priced out and forced to more to different areas. A 4-3 vote on the decision to



THE BENEFICIARIES

The theory behind gentrification is that investors and development companies make enough profit to give back to the local community in the form of parks, leisure facilities and the tax paid to the local council. However, this is not always true, because the profits that real estate developers make often disproportionately outweigh the amount they invest in the original, older community of the area. Newly built expensive flats will attract a new audience to Elephant and Castle, with high end leisure habits, so it is unlikely they will enjoy the local bars and cafes that had been ran by the same families for years. This means that the hospitality sector will also transform, potentially excluding poorer residents. Estate agent Carl Davenport quoted ‘Elephant and Castle may not look like much now, but it is an area on the move which means it’s the right time to invest. Once all the new buildings start to appear it will be too late and buyers will have missed the boat’. Suggesting that to real estate many developers it is simply a place to invest in and profit from, rather than an opportunity to develop the livelihood of the local population.



“It’s a shithole we’ve turned into a However, the overseas shareholders goldmine, apparently. So they basically will be paying little tax to the UK want to kick us out and carry on with government from their profits mining.” from the investments in Elephant - Amul, DIY shop owner and Castle. Despite this, Delancey is keen to showcase its own Delancey is the investment connection with the traders, telling company that bought the sight of us: “ the Elephant and Castle Shopping centre for £80 million, as part of We continue to work very closely the £4 billion regeneration tscheme with independent traders at the proposed by the government existing shopping centre to support for the area. However, they businesses plans for relocation and aren’t the only stake holders in this includes the building of the retail the controversial investment. space on Castle Square that has now The Qatar ruling family, Dutch commenced.” pension fund manager APG, Oxford Properties real estate Southwark Council has been company of the Canadian pension adamant that demolition is the fund OMERS and Kintyre Corp right thing too, not only for property investment company, investors, but for locals too. In registered in Panama and named January 2020, it pledged an extra in the Panama Papers are all £200,000 to support traders shareholders. affected by the regeneration plans. Delancey has proposed a build- to-rent scheme with 7.5% annual return on investment, in partnership with Get Living, a real estate agency. Part of this income is supposedly going to be reinvested in the community alongside the tax paid to the government.

IMPACTS ON THE LOCAL COMMUNITY The regeneration of Elephant and American businesses that were Castle will unequally impact the forced to shut down. Even though Latin American community – the some were displaced to areas near biggest minority in the area, with Elephant and Castle, many were 9% of all Latinx population in the replaced by brand new retailers country, being based in Southwark. that are designed to cater to the They are mostly clustered in either needs of wealthier newcomers. Elephant and Castle itself, or along Nightclubs and events venues the nearby Walworth Road that that facilitated a cultural space runs south to Camberwell, or down – not only for the international the equally close-by Old Kent Road communities, but for all the youth that runs towards Bermondsey. growing up in the area, have been Developers like Delancey or the shut down with alarming frequency Southwark council has not offered to make way for Delancey’s a definite solution as to what will development projects. happen to the many local, Latin





“They say they want us to remain in the area, but you see how many apartments are being built. It’s very unlikely that they’ll grant us a license to operate as a club and bar when they’re done” - Mateo Quintero Delancey’s own website exclaims the value of the “comprehensive redevelopment” of the old centre into a “focal point for the community. But it doesn’t seem concerned with the forceful disruption of the already existing communities in Elephant and Castle. “The most frustrating is that the Latin American community is in favour of things changing and some regeneration – just not at the cost of displacing hundreds of people. It doesn’t seem necessary.” - Mateo Quintero “We don’t want to be going to Peckham or Camberwell. We have a business here.” - Amul, DIY shop owner Even though – as showcased by local’s accounts, some development in the area is required, the ideology of mixed-development often assumes council housing as the bad and the new private houses and new shops as the good. Culture and community are a natural organism. It can’t simply be rebuilt through marketing schemes and development projects.

LOBBIES AGAINST GENTRIFICATION Thanks to efforts from activist “There was zero proper social rented groups a number of social housing housing to begin with and it is only by units has been secured, 116 out the efforts of local people that we have of 979 (more than the initial 33) the 116 homes now promised.” along with a relocation fee and a pledge to keep 10% of the retail “There have also been gains for the space at “affordable” rent prices. traders – many now have somewhere However, it’s an illusion of to move to, with Castle Square and affordability in the eyes of Latin other spaces, although not enough American business owners as it space for everyone who needs it and can mean anything up to two traders are still in negotiation with thirds of the Zone 1 market rate. Southwark for a new market space.” Although the court found there - Jerry Flynn, from the Up were no grounds for a u-turn, the Elephant campaign after a four-year campaign, activist say their work is far from In conclusion, the gentrification over, highlighting that pressure of Elephant and Castle and the put on landlord and developer concept of urban development Delancey and Southwark Council is a complex question. The area led to significant gains. undoubtedly needed improvement on its





REFERENCES Regeneration? Gentrification? - Southwark Notes, 2007 The Last Inhabitants of Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre - Londonist, 2020 Gentrification in Elephant and Castle - Dazed, 2018 Elephant and Castle Regeneration: Appeal Court Upholds Decision to Greenlight Demolishion - Southwark News, 2021

DANA BENEDEK