Neighborhood Decline Research Articles

Neighborhood decline and mixed land uses: Mitigating housing abandonment in shrinking cities

Neighborhood decline is a critical issue in shrinking cities. Components of sustainable urbanism such as mixed land uses have risen as possible urban planning-based approaches to help mitigate urban and neighborhood decline. This research identifies examines if mixed land uses can help mitigate urban decline by using the tax delinquent status of single family houses as a proxy for decline in Dayton, Ohio, USA. Logistic regression models are utilized to estimate the probability of tax delinquency. The results suggest that the proximity to mixed land uses is associated with increasing or decreasing the probability of tax delinquent for single family lots. The number of commercial and industrial lots in a neighborhood also has effects on the probability of a lot becoming tax delinquent, but the specific types of commercial and industrial lots dictate the direction of effects. The existence of commercial apartment lots, retail lots, and industrial food and drink plant lots were shown to help decrease the probability of tax delinquent lots. Also, decreasing the amount of property tax applied to parcels can help to limit distress in neighborhoods. This research contributes to the ongoing efforts to stymie the amount of residential abandonment in depopulating and declining cities.

The Impact of Impending Demolition on Ageing in Place in Declining Neighbourhoods in Shenyang, China

Facilitating ageing in place enables older people to remain in familiar places, namely their homes and neighbourhoods, as long as possible. However, urban redevelopment that includes the forced relocation of residents often makes ageing in place impossible. The present research examined how impending neighbourhood demolition affects the ageing in place of older people in Shenyang, China. Starting with the presscompetence model and related academic work concerning the influences of person– environment interaction on the wellbeing of older people, this paper discusses the impact of forced relocation and demolition on the meaning of home, the living arrangement and the role of family, and strategies to maintain the independence of older people. Transcript analysis of 54 semi-structured interviews with older residents revealed their ambivalent feelings towards the impending demolition. Long-term residence in declining neighbourhoods makes them feel rooted and enables them to develop their living strategies and plan for ageing in place. However, neighbourhood decline challenges their daily activities and they increasingly struggle to maintain their independence, which leads them to consider impending neighbourhood redevelopment as an opportunity to improve their living conditions. The impending forced relocation interrupts their place-based identity and living strategies and causes significant stress due to their lack of autonomy in the decision making on the relocation process, the move itself and their uncertainty regarding their post-relocation life. Implications for further research and policy are provided.

Ambivalence in Place Attachment: the Lived Experiences of Homeowners in Danwei Communities Facing Demolition in Shenyang, China

This paper focuses on the influence of state-led urban redevelopment on the place attachment of deprived homeowners living in danwei communities that are facing demolition in Shenyang, China. It investigates lived experiences through in-depth interviews with homeowners at the pre-demolition phase. The paper reveals how these homeowners cleverly mobilize local resources, such as strong social bonds among homeowners, low living costs, flexibility on space usage and good neighbourhood location to cope with their life constraints, which is translated into their strong neighbourhood attachment. However, various forms of neighbourhood decline have decrease their quality of life. Meanwhile, they have to move due to the impending neighbourhood demolition. State-led urban redevelopment, therefore, confronts those deprived homeowners with a dilemma concerning their strong neighbourhood dependence and the desire for better living conditions. The impending neighbourhood demolition uncovers accumulated social issues in danwei communities in the context of market reforms and institutional changes in current China, such as the emergence of deprived social groups and their struggles for better housing.

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

Understanding the Crime Gap: Violence and Inequality in an American City

The United States has experienced an unprecedented decline in violent crime over the last two decades. Throughout this decline, however, violent crime continued to concentrate in socially and economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Using detailed homicide records from 1990 to 2010, this study examines the spatial patterning of violent crime in Chicago to determine whether or not all neighborhoods experienced decreases in violence. We find that while in absolute terms nearly all neighborhoods in the city benefited from reductions in homicide, relative inequality in crime between the city's safest and most dangerous neighborhoods actually increased by 10 percent. This increase was driven by a greater rate of decline in the city's safest neighborhoods. This crime gap can be partly attributed to the decreasing association between concentrated disadvantage and homicide in the safest neighborhoods. We also find that the decline did not significantly alter the spatial distribution of crime, as homicides remained concentrated in the initially most dangerous neighborhoods and their adjacent areas.

KUALITAS LINGKUNGAN PERMUKIMAN KAWASAN INDUSTRI DI KECAMATAN GENUK KOTA SEMARANG

The increase in the number and activity of the population implies increasing the area woke up, especially for the neighborhood. There are a variety of different settlement environment character in the suburban area of Semarang. The existence of settlements in district Genuk which is in the industry and affected rob feared decline of environmental quality neighborhoods. There are still many residents living in the northern part of Kecamatan Genuk flooded rob and decline the face of the land. The condition can have implications for environmental degradation in neighborhoods in district Genuk.Research on environmental quality neighborhoods in district Genuk aims to analyze the changes in environmental quality neighborhoods, using a spatial approach to the method of remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS). Analytical techniques weighted overlay using the variable density of settlements, the layout of the buildings, the condition of the wide driveway, driveway, tree protectors, the location of settlements and the quality of the roof of the building refers to the assessment of the Department of public works. Results show that for 10 years of environmental degradation has occurred in district neighborhoods Genuk, namely in Sembungharjo Village and Genuksari Village. This occurs due to the increased density of settlements and the decline of the tree protectors.

Ambivalence in place attachment: the lived experiences of residents in danwei communities facing demolition in Shenyang, China

This article focuses on the influence of state-led urban redevelopment on the place attachment of deprived and old homeowners living in danwei communities that are facing demolition in Shenyang, China. It investigates lived experiences through in-depth interviews with homeowners in the context of the pre-demolition phase, i.e. an inevitable prospect of having to move out. The article reveals how these homeowners cleverly mobilize local resources, such as strong social bonds, low living costs, flexibility on space use and good neighbourhood location to cope with their life constraints, which is translated into their strong neighbourhood attachment. However, various forms of neighbourhood decline have decreased their quality of life. Meanwhile, they soon have to move due to the impending demolition of their neighbourhood. State-led urban redevelopment, therefore, confronts those deprived residents with a dilemma concerning their strong neighbourhood dependence and their desire for better living conditions. The impending neighbourhood demolition uncovers accumulated social issues in danwei communities in the context of market reforms and institutional changes in current China, such as the emergence of deprived social groups and their struggles for better housing.

Just revitalization in shrinking and shrunken cities? Observations on gentrification from New Orleans and Cincinnati

ABSTRACTIn the last decade, shrinking cities have begun to gentrify, leading to optimistic narratives about their recovery. Redevelopment policies, however, can exacerbate social and spatial inequities if explicit efforts do not promote social justice. Drawing on evidence from Cincinnati and New Orleans, we explore 3 components of just revitalization: avoiding displacement, connecting longtime residents to new opportunities, and reducing decline in neighborhoods that are not revitalizing. The article then examines 3 reasons these objectives have been difficult to achieve: the timing of anti-displacement policies, the mechanisms used to connect long-term residents to economic opportunities, and how cities address conditions in neighborhoods that are not growing. The analysis shows that the cities are adopting mechanisms to spread the benefits of revitalization, but without explicit policies targeting low- and moderate-income residents, neighborhoods in shrinking cities can become unaffordable and gentrification will increase inequity.

Mobile but Stuck: Multigenerational Neighborhood Decline and Housing Search Strategies for African Americans

While many scholars have demonstrated that entrenched racial residential segregation perpetuates racial inequality, the causes of persistent racial segregation continue to be debated. This paper investigates how geographically and socioeconomically mobile African Americans approach the home–buying process in the context of a segregated metropolitan region, by using qualitative interviews with working–class to middle–income African American aspiring homebuyers. Homebuyers use three principal search strategies to determine suitable neighborhoods: avoiding decline, searching for improvement, and searching for stability. The findings suggest that despite these strategies African American homebuyers end up in areas that may not retain characteristics they desire in terms of racial demographics and amenities, in large part because such neighborhoods remain rare.

Residents’ Perceptions of Impending Forced Relocation in Urban China

Residents’ Perceptions of Impending Forced Relocation in Urban China

Mixed neighbourhoods and native out-mobility in the Oslo region: The importance of parenthood

The extent to which the native-born population accept living in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods is receiving more and more attention throughout Europe. The Norwegian debate around this topic started in the 1990s and tends to centre on education and children’s welfare. Thus, our main question is whether native parents are prone to leave neighbourhoods with a high share of ethnic minorities. For this purpose, we utilise ‘white flight’ theory, particularly Ingrid Gould Ellen’s revised proxy thesis. The key mechanism, according to Ellen, is fear of neighbourhood decline. Drawing on register data for the Oslo area, and tracking moves in 2010, we provide circumstantial evidence for the thesis. Both parents and parents-to-be are more sensitive to the concentration of ethnic minorities than are households without children. The size of the effect depends upon housing tenure, with a higher level of out-mobility among homeowners. There is also a marked geographic pattern, with less stability in Oslo East. None of these patterns was found in a control group consisting of non-natives. We conclude by highlighting the importance of housing structure and housing diversity policies.

‘At least it’s not a ghetto anymore’: Experiencing gentrification and ‘false choice urbanism’ in Rotterdam’s Afrikaanderwijk

Gentrification has become a central pillar of urban policy in cities around the world. Proponents often frame it as a necessity and the sole alternative to neighbourhood decline. Critics call this a ‘false choice’ as it ignores other possibilities for improvement without gentrification. But how do working-class residents who live through the process of gentrification view the impact it has on their neighbourhood? Do they see it in such a stark binary way? This article addresses these questions by using qualitative interviews with long-term residents of the Afrikaanderwijk, a multicultural neighbourhood in Rotterdam where municipally-led gentrification is taking place. In contrast to much of the Anglo-Saxon literature on experiencing gentrification, our respondents had far more mixed, complex and ambivalent perspectives on the process. To some extent, this was due to the neighbourhood’s recent history as a stigmatised ‘ghetto’ and the expectation that the arrival of white, ethnically Dutch middle-class people would help to improve the neighbourhood, which was ranked worst in the country in 2000. We also stress the role of local context, such as the early phase of gentrification and the comparatively strong social housing sector and tenant protection laws in the Netherlands, in contributing towards a more nuanced experience of gentrification.

Studentification and Disorder in a College Town

This study uses interview and focus group data to examine how residents perceive and cope with studentification, disorder, and neighbor conflict in a college town. First, we find that nonstudent residents perceive studentification as the cause of neighborhood decline, but mainly blame larger forces and local actors, such as the university, city officials, and local developers, rather than the students. Second, we find that one way that residents adapt to disorder is by using active strategies to defend their neighborhoods, but they believe this role has been forced upon them by the failure of social institutions to address the local problems. Third, given the limited effectiveness of social control efforts and given the structural barriers to fostering order, residents have come to adopt passive strategies that normalize disorder and allow them to avoid further conflict with neighbors.

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

Residents’ Perceptions of Impending Forced Relocation in Urban China

Residents’ Perceptions of Impending Forced Relocation in Urban China

The Impact of Impending Demolition on Ageing in Place in Declining Neighbourhoods in Shenyang, China

Facilitating ageing in place enables older people to remain in familiar places, namely their homes and neighbourhoods, as long as possible. However, urban redevelopment that includes the forced relocation of residents often makes ageing in place impossible. The present research examined how impending neighbourhood demolition affects the ageing in place of older people in Shenyang, China. Starting with the presscompetence model and related academic work concerning the influences of person– environment interaction on the wellbeing of older people, this paper discusses the impact of forced relocation and demolition on the meaning of home, the living arrangement and the role of family, and strategies to maintain the independence of older people. Transcript analysis of 54 semi-structured interviews with older residents revealed their ambivalent feelings towards the impending demolition. Long-term residence in declining neighbourhoods makes them feel rooted and enables them to develop their living strategies and plan for ageing in place. However, neighbourhood decline challenges their daily activities and they increasingly struggle to maintain their independence, which leads them to consider impending neighbourhood redevelopment as an opportunity to improve their living conditions. The impending forced relocation interrupts their place-based identity and living strategies and causes significant stress due to their lack of autonomy in the decision making on the relocation process, the move itself and their uncertainty regarding their post-relocation life. Implications for further research and policy are provided.

Introduction

Introduction

Ambivalence in Place Attachment

This paper focuses on the influence of state-led urban redevelopment on the place attachment of deprived homeowners living in danwei communities that are facing demolition in Shenyang, China. It investigates lived experiences through in-depth interviews with homeowners at the pre-demolition phase. The paper reveals how these homeowners cleverly mobilize local resources, such as strong social bonds among homeowners, low living costs, flexibility on space usage and good neighbourhood location to cope with their life constraints, which is translated into their strong neighbourhood attachment. However, various forms of neighbourhood decline have decrease their quality of life. Meanwhile, they have to move due to the impending neighbourhood demolition. State-led urban redevelopment, therefore, confronts those deprived homeowners with a dilemma concerning their strong neighbourhood dependence and the desire for better living conditions. The impending neighbourhood demolition uncovers accumulated social issues in danwei communities in the context of market reforms and institutional changes in current China, such as the emergence of deprived social groups and their struggles for better housing.

Community development and Historic Preservation: Exploring intersections in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District

Abstract Urban neighbourhoods are home to complex social interactions, cultural traditions and historic built environments that have accrued over time. Many community development corporations (CDCs) in the United States work in older, inner-city neighbourhoods, setting the stage for a possible alliance with historic preservation. This paper explores the intersection of community development and historic preservation, asking: In high-growth contexts, how do community developers working in neighbourhoods with strong cultural and ethnic identity use historic preservation? What are their motivations? And, how do they define, use, and/or adapt preservation to address the needs of their target communities? The article chronicles the Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation Development Authority’s (SCIDpda) efforts to reverse neighbourhood decline while preserving the International District’s significant history, fostering its continued future as a Pan-Asian community, overcoming persistent barriers to development, and mitigating high growth pressures. The findings show that for community developers, preservation can serve as an oppositional strategy to demolition and incompatible new development, helping to attract outside financial resources, and providing a means to assert local symbolic ownership over neighbourhood space.

‘An Injurious Effect on the Neighbourhood’: Narratives of Neighbourhood Decline and Racialised Class Identities in Late Nineteenth-Century San Francisco

Spatial narratives of neighbourhood decline – stories about threats to neighbourhood resources – were crucial in reinscribing racialised class boundaries in the late nineteenth century. In 1894, white middle-class property owners in San Francisco’s Powell Street district protested the Board of School Directors’ decision to relocate the city’s only Chinese public school to a condemned building in their neighbourhood, leading to the renovation of the school’s existing structure within Chinatown and new efforts to restrict both Chinese and Japanese urban settlement. I analyse this event to show the importance of space for the race–class intersection. Protesters described the financial, social and moral costs of living near a Chinese school, thereby establishing racial criteria for middle-class identity and mobility. Theories of racial space must consider discursive links between race, class and space because spatial narratives that reproduce economic dominance over racial minorities help to maintain the racial order.