Read 3 readings and answer 15 guiding questions about them Essay

Read 3 readings and answer 15 guiding questions about them - Essay Example Smith (547) argues that underwriting of the built environment is a crucial vessel for the accumulation of capital. Owing to the cyclical nature of the process and the durability and fixity of such underwritings new cycles of subsidies are usually linked to crises and shifts of the capital location. This is congruent with Smith’s definition of gentrification – the flow of capital from the cities. Smith (545) defines the rent gap as the difference between the probable ground rent rate and the real ground rent exploited under the current land use. The rent gap is directly proportional to the theory of gentrification. Smith (545) claims that gentrification happens when the rent gap is so wide that developers can buy shells at affordable rates, can pay the builder’s charge and gains for renovation, can service interest on residential and construction loans, and can then trade the end product at a price that guarantees a good profit for the developer. I agree that gentrification is the movement, back to the city, of capital, not people. This is because the circulation of capital is crucial in the settlement and resettlement of people, as well as gentrification. People follow capital, not the opposite. As Smith (547) argues, as per now, the people exploiting this returning capital still come from the city. According to Mitchell (923) calling homelessness in the US a crisis is to abuse language because homelessness is a fixed and justified aspect of the country’s political economy, regardless of the fact that its particular mould, its intensity, and the strategies of managing it have been both geographically and historically relevant. According to Mitchell (945), the deserving poor were those who were ready to acknowledge liability for their situations, accept donations or other gifts with the right measure of humility, start the difficult task of