Speaker:  Sabiyha Prince
Cultural Anthropologist, Activist, Artist, Washington, D.C.

In this next installment of the Future of Small Cities, we will tackle the complex topic of gentrification and “the inclusive city.” As development begins to flow into the Capital Region, we are already seeing housing prices rise, neighborhood demographics shift, and implicit cultural norms being established on a sidewalk level. This will only increase over the next 15 years.

But before the next wave of development arrives, now seems like an opportune time to declare what kind of city we want to live in the future. Is it a diverse, inclusive city, open to all? And if so, what structures, incentives, laws, organizations do we need to establish in order to protect and nurture this urban inclusivity? 

Our guest speaker Sabiyha Prince is an activist, artist, and cultural anthropologist. She’ll lay down the story of gentrification in Washington, D.C. and how that city’s neighborhoods have undergone a rapid transformation over the past two decades. She’ll help us define the term “gentrification” from a social science perspective and propose some of the ways we might strive towards “development without displacement.” From there, a panel of local thoughtleaders will have a dialog on the topic and how it relates to our region currently.

An accompanying series of masterclasses for a select group will extend and deepen the conversation and lead to possible policy suggestions.

Reif Larsen, the 2019-2020 Writer-in-Residence at the Troy Innovation Garage, will host the Garage Talks series.