Brigitte Zamzow - Housing Policy and Vulnerable Families in The Inner City: Public Housing in Harlem, New York City

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The publication of Brigitte Zamzow, originally her Masters thesis in Sociology at the Friedrichs-Wilhelm Universitt in Bonn, is concerned with a typical situation in Western cities: The strong pressure on the housing markets close to the centres of large cities is pushing socially disadvantaged households out of their traditional living environments. This is particularly visible in the large American metropolitan areas, for example, in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The lack of public policy in the field of social housing is leading to massive displacement of the resident population.

In the case of the United States, this process, which is also referred to in the public debate as gentrification, is not only associated with pressure on the socially disadvantaged population, but also with the problem of racism towards the Afro-American population. In her thesis, Brigitte Zamzow describes the development of the New York district of Harlem, from an American suburb to a ghetto, with the associated connotations, both positive and negative. The current gentrification of Harlem is changing its structure and inhabitants tremendously. With her excellent case study, the author not only describes the changes in this New York district, but also in many other Western cities affected by increasing gentrification. The study is based on her own data, which she collected in Harlem.

It is impressive how well she develops important insights with the help of qualitative methods, especially guideline-based interviews. Her work offers several new insights into the field of public housing in Harlem and shows the public neglect, more or less of the problems of socially disadvantaged households in the field of urban policy, which is reinforced by non-public decisions. Brigitte Zamzow is not only concerned with the relationship between society and the city, but also with the historical and ongoing influence of social racism. Although we live in a civilized and technologically advanced world where it is repeatedly claimed that all people are equal, racism, especially against ethnic minorities, is still a pressing problem all over the world. The work refers to Harlem, a part of New York that is known worldwide. Even though there has been a great deal of research on Harlem and numerous publications already exist, Zamzow provides new insights. In order that her work can be read internationally, she wrote her Masters thesis in English, which is, at least in Germany, a rare occurrence. It is a stimulating work that should appeal to anyone interested in Harlem and gentrification processes in general.

Brigitte Zamzow was our Masters student. Her thesis was excellent, and she received the prize for the best Masters thesis in 2017/2018 from the DGS (Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Soziologie; in English: German Society of Sociology). We are very happy that we were allowed to supervise this work, and hope that the results will meet with a broad, positive response.