Is there a word that means the opposite of "gentrification"?
Exactly what it says on the tin: is there a word that means precisely the opposite of "gentrification"? That is, the decline of a neighborhood due to an influx of lower-class families and individuals leading to an eventual flight of the middle- or upper-class residents.
Solution 1:
Consider
blight
or if you're open to more than one word:
urban blight
From OED:
The degeneration of a landscape or urban area as a result of neglect:
- 'the city’s high-rise social housing had become synonymous with urban blight'
- 'Urban blight is cumulative and self-reinforcing; blighted buildings cast a pall on land around them, discourage upkeep, and stifle renewal.'
Solution 2:
What about ghettoisation
Alternate spelling is "ghettoization"
Solution 3:
Not in common use today but this used to be called blockbusting.
Blockbusting: Blockbusting was a business process of U.S. real estate agents and building developers to convince white property owners to sell their house at low prices out of fear that racial minorities would soon be moving into the neighborhood. The agents then sold the houses at much higher prices to black families desperate to escape the overcrowded ghettos.[1] Blockbusting became possible after the legislative and judicial dismantling of legally protected racially segregated real estate practices after World War II. By the 1980s it largely disappeared as a business practice after changes in law and the real estate market.[2] After the millennium claims were made that it was again being practiced in New York State on behalf of orthodox Jews.[3][4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusting
I missed the earlier comment that offered the same answer/link. As a new user what is the proper etiquette for this situation?