4
ISSUE 103 / 2017
NEWS
LONDON NEWS
WHAT IS
GENTRIFI-
CATION?
SAVE LATIN VILLAGE
Pueblito Paisa, a name that wouldn't mean much to most
Londoners, but it means the whole world to the large
Latin-American community in Tottenham Hale.
It is an indoor market hidden away behind
small doors that are squeezed inbetween
the bright shop fronts of Seven Sisters.
More than just an indoor market, it is a
community. It enables the many families
that have fled the unfavourable conditions
of Columbia, to lead a stable life and not
face uncertainty.
That is, until 2008 when a company
called Grainger, submitted a proposal
for a redevelopment of the market into a
property for high-end stores and residential
flats. It has been an uphill battle for the
Latino community ever since.
As a result of this the rent and the cost
of living rise, many venues and bars get
closed down, and the same people that
made the area what it is are driven out.
But this time, gentrification will result
in something more than just disgruntled
artists.
Many of the shop owners in the market
have fled the war-stricken Columbia. Due
to extreme guerrilla factions, American-
backed death squads, as well as drug
cartels.
Poverty, violence, and death are everyday
occurrences in the lives of the locals,
which is also shown by the nearly 6 million
Internally Displaced Persons, second only
to Syria.
Many of these people have fled to
England, and of these people, there are
those who have built up the Pueblito Paisa
into what it is today, a community.
And now, with the plans of redevelopment
looming over their heads, there is a real
possibility that the displaced, will become
displaced once again, this time without
a safety net of such a strong community.
Save Latin Village by donating to 'Save the
Latin Village & Wards Corner'.
EXAMPLE
One good example of gentrification is
the Brixton Arches. Where the council
destroyed a part of London's heritage
for some more carbon copy shops.
Gentrification is the
process of redeveloping
areas to conform to a
middle-class taste.
