Urbanism Without Guarantees

"Anderson's work of urban geography is centered in ethnographic work undertaken on a single street in Clinton/Hell's Kitchen in New York City. At one time a site of disinvestment, the street is now rapidly gentrifying, and Miller examines the everyday strategies of residents to preserve the "quality of life" of their neighborhood, to define and maintain their values of urban living. Residents pick up litter, call the 311 hotline to report minor concerns, and form a block association to hire a private security firm to monitor the local public park. Anderson's broader agenda is to show how processes such as "investment" and "gentrification" are constructed out of the aggregate actions of ordinary people, and thus can be the sites of critique and intervention"--