Neighborhood diversity is an open commons prone to erosion. Harvey writes: “A community group that struggles to maintain ethnic diversity in its neighborhood and protect against gentrification may suddenly find its property prices (and taxes) rising as real estate agents market the ‘character’ of their neighborhood to the wealthy as multicultural, street-lively, and diverse. By the time the market has done its destructive work, not only have the original residents been dispossessed of that common which they had created (often being forced out by rising rents and property taxes), but the common itself becomes so debased as to be unrecognizable.”

Capital homogenizes even as it demands uniqueness. For a global tourist industry to profit from a city’s special qualities it must fit that city into its worldwide operations. Hotel chains build standardized hotels, charter companies demand standardized airports, marketing departments seek messages that resonate around the world. The more distinct a city’s culture, the more pressure to squeeze it into the homogenizing templates of global tourism and global trade.