ABSTRACT
Safety is one of the primary amenities that gentrification is selling. Gentrifying neighborhoods frequently see an increase in police presence and more aggressive policing in areas that had previously been neglected by urban policy. This chapter explores how the selling of the safe city is based on the exploitation of women's fear of the city and of stereotypes built around young men of color in ways that act to put people at risk. Spectacle policing policies such as broken windows and zero tolerance focus on certain areas and certain crimes, rendering other crimes, like rape and domestic violence, less visible and targeting marginal populations like sex workers, rendering them less safe. While proponents of gentrification often cite a safer neighborhood as one of the benefits of gentrification, this understanding of fear and safety is both limited and distinctly gendered. The displacement engendered by gentrification endangers the sense of safety and refuge that urban residents have constructed for themselves.
