Uncertain living: Pestering displaceability in a neighbourhood regeneration process

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of top-down regeneration plans on residents, specifically focusing on the concept of ‘pestering displaceability’. Using a case study from Beersheba, Israel, it demonstrates how large-scale regeneration plans, while aiming to address housing needs and revitalize old quarters, can potentially displace residents, including homeowners. The concept of displaceability, as defined by Tzfadia and Yiftachel (2022), refers to the potential of being displaced and reflects the erosion of residents’ right to the city as a new order is imposed on their familiar environment. The central argument of the paper is that displaceability creates a sense of constant uncertainty—an urban state of mind characterized by a pestering nuisance—which individuals across different global contexts increasingly experience. Displaceability is not merely a mental condition of long-term anxiety. It is the new urban condition, a political condition manifested in a new and deteriorated form of urban citizenship. The study examines residents’ perceptions of potential displacement from their neighbourhood, which elicit both hopeful and fearful sentiments. Focusing on Beersheba’s Gimel neighbourhood, currently undergoing regeneration after a period of disinvestment, the research delves into the pre-gentrification era characterized by uncertainty regarding the process’s outcomes, including its speed, costs, and benefits. The paper documents this transformative phase using qualitative methods such as interviews and participant observation.