Saturday, October 28, 2017

London's Gentrification

A team of United Nations human rights experts are investigating gentrification in London amid a row over the planned demolition of a Latin American market,  Tottenham’s Pueblito Paisa - also known as Latin Village. Compulsory Purchase Orders were issued to stallholders by Haringey Council last year

The indoor market, next to Seven Sisters Tube station, is set to be bulldozed as part of a regeneration programme that would replace it with 196 new homes – none of them affordable - and a shopping plaza containing chain retailers and restaurants. Pueblito Paisa’s stallholders have been battling for almost a decade to stay in their current location - a fight backed by Boris Johnson during his time as mayor – and argue the change will affect their livelihoods.

“All issues about civil, political, socio-economic and cultural rights are the focus of UN bodies,” Surya Deva, chair of the UN working group on business and human rights, explained“I think this is an issue which is not merely about developed cities – it is an issue which has global implications over the displacement of people from their properties and land.” Prof Deva said the problem can arise in a “city like London or a remote part somewhere where there is a mining project”, adding: “No country can claim that it has a perfect human rights record…we receive these allegations we try our best to help.”

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