TESTING ANTI-GENTRIFICATION

Gentrification is closely linked to real estate speculation, which is, in turn, closely related to property tax and inflation. In today's world, the following pattern is quite logical:
- purchase a property
- wait for the property's value to increase
- develop facilities that provide the highest return at the time
- exit the investment with profits
So, how can we disrupt this pattern?
There are two effective options: either slow down inflation or discourage speculation. 

Let's focus on discouraging speculation. The logical approach would involve a policy that forces owners to make quicker decisions about their properties and develop them in the most productive way, providing a time-relevant and context-specific solution. 
Some might argue that prompt solutions could lead to lower quality and less deliberate projects, but this can be addressed with a set of other policies, which we will discuss on another occasion.
Henry George, a political economist, proposed the taxation of land. He argued that this would prevent land hoarding and efficiently channel tax revenue into the government's budget, promoting productive and flexible urban spaces.
In fact, land taxation almost became the primary principle of taxation, but it was dismissed due to other political events.
Today, this form of taxation is regaining popularity, especially considering the vast wealth accumulation by a small group, which is closely related to land ownership. 

One major obstacle to adopting a land taxation system is the strong lobbying by landowners. Additionally, critics argue that this system could lead to issues that might affect our current economy and status quo.
Despite these claims, many economists agree that while the land taxation system has challenges to overcome, no taxation system is perfect, and our current one is far from flawless, ideal, or fair. 

With that in mind, we at Stripping Architecture continue to dream of a simple idea that we would like to test.
If we widely agree that the current taxation system encourages land speculation and gentrification, and we suspect that land taxation might be the solution but we fear from unknown factors, let's experiment with the idea. 
Why not create experimental zones where, just like in laboratories, we can test land taxation in an enclosed system? 

While this might not provide solutions to global phenomena, it will certainly allow us to become comfortable thinking within this system's framework on a small scale. Such experiments can help us envision ways to address anti-gentrification systems and potentially equip us with strategies to limit land speculation in certain areas of interest.
However, a general trend today is that we must start viewing our cities and urbanism as laboratories that will provide answers for a more sustainable and resilient future, rather than as finished parcels of real estate.