Do people have a right to the city? Do longtime residents and businesses have a right to remain where they are?  If so, how should local governments, urban planners, and other decision-makers ensure these rights are maintained?
People do have a right to the community because they are the ones who reside there and make up the community. They are the first ones to experience any changes, small or big. All changes can affect them in many different ways. I do believe that longtime residents and businesses have a right to remain where they are because they have become an important part within the community, they have built their lives around their business. In order to own a business, it requires a lot of work and dedication to making it work, working long hours everyday 24/7. Longtime residents put in a lot of work into their homes as well, to fixing up many things that can require money out of their pockets. In the documentary “My Brooklyn”, business owners were forced to move out their locations within 30 days with no help at all to relocate. This caused owners to lose lots of money because having to look for a different location in which they think can benefit them can be difficult as well as all the customers they may lose along the way. Local governments, urban planners, and other decision-makers, should go beyond thinking what THEY think the community needs and go out and listen to the people that form the community. Often times communities are silenced without giving them the opportunity to speak on their needs. Their needs may actually be helpful and can benefit everyone else because they are the the people who first hand know what it’s like to live there.