The spatio-temporal pattern of housing redevelopment in suburban Chicago, 2000–2010

Abstract

This study examines the process of housing redevelopment, using data of single-family residential redevelopment that occurred in all 128 inner-ring suburbs of Chicago, USA, located in Cook County, between 2000 and 2010. Using exploratory spatial data analysis techniques, I identify the magnitude and the spatial locations of redevelopment, revealing the different types of suburban neighbourhoods in which redevelopment occurs. I then examine how the location and extent of redevelopment changed between 2000 and 2010 and how the physical manifestation of redevelopment varied across different types of suburban neighbourhoods. Findings reveal that redevelopment is spatially clustered, occurring in a variety of places ranging from modest middle-income neighbourhoods to very highly affluent neighbourhoods. Redevelopment often began in areas with high property values, and as house prices rose rapidly through the first half of the decade, it expanded into adjacent, less affluent neighbourhoods, retracting again at the end of the decade.