Locating the global in Harlem, NYC: Urban development initiatives, public space and gentrification

The development of urban areas in New York City is a direct response to the city's insertion in the global economy as the center that coordinates financial transactions and the services required to sustain the quality of life of the high tier of professional service workers. Culture and the concomitant expansion of entertainment districts are designed for the consumption of leisure. As part of the globalization puzzle, previously neglected neighborhoods in the global city are the focus of development where private capital is attracted by governmental tax breaks and the improvement of physical infrastructure for retail, housing and tourism. Tourism and the entertainment industry are both key components of contemporary urban development, locally privileging consumption as a national attribute of recently annexed territories such as Harlem, New York City. The Empowerment Zone District of Harlem will be examined as an example of the many development initiatives that are changing the urban layout of New York City. The consumer citizen and urban public space as capital's privileged façade in the form of advertisement displays will be counterpoised to vernacular manifestations of the global-local tension. Moreover, the concept of citizenship as social active participation will be revisited taking as a point of departure public space and the role it has played within the gentrification of Harlem.¹