'Weak Center' gentrification and the contradictions of containment: deconcentrating poverty in Downtown Los Angeles

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Description/Abstract

This case study of recent efforts to deconcentrate poverty within the Skid Row area of Los Angeles examines processes of ‘weak-center’ gentrification as it applies to a ‘service
dependent ghetto,’ thus filling two key gaps in prior scholarship. We document the collaboration between the government, business and development interests, and certain
non-profit agencies in this process and identify two key mechanisms of poverty deconcentration: housing/service displacement and the criminalization of low income residents. Following Harvey, we argue that these efforts are driven by pressures to find a ‘spatial fix’ for capital accumulation through Downtown redevelopment. This process has been hotly contested, however, illustrating the strength of counter-pressures to gentrification/poverty deconcentration within ‘weak-center’ urban areas.