Eco-Gentrification: When Green Urbanism Displaces the Poor

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16911615

Abstract

Eco-gentrification, the paradox where environmental improvements lead to the displacement of vulnerable communities, is an emerging concern in rapidly urbanizing societies. In Pakistan, green urbanism has increasingly been promoted as a pathway toward sustainable development, climate resilience, and livability. Projects such as urban parks, riverfront revitalizations, and tree plantation drives are framed as inclusive environmental solutions. However, these interventions often fail to account for socio-economic realities and end up reproducing urban inequalities. Poor households living in informal settlements are frequently displaced as green spaces raise property values, attract wealthier residents, and incentivize commercial real estate development. This process disrupts community networks, erodes affordable housing, and intensifies urban class segregation. Drawing on the global literature on eco-gentrification and contextualized evidence from Pakistan’s metropolitan centers such as Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, this study examines the double-edged nature of green urbanism. It argues that without integrating equity safeguards, environmental initiatives risk becoming exclusionary rather than emancipatory. By situating eco-gentrification within the broader framework of environmental justice and urban political economy, the paper highlights how sustainability agendas can inadvertently marginalize the very groups most vulnerable to climate change. The findings underscore the urgent need for participatory planning, affordable housing protections, and redistributive policy instruments to ensure that green transformations in Pakistan are socially just as well as ecologically sound.

Keywords: Eco-Gentrification, Green Urbanism, Displacement, Environmental Justice, Urban Inequality, Pakistan