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Neighborhood Regeneration in a Declining City: the Case of Detroit

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Neighborhood Regeneration in a Declining City: the Case of Detroit NEIGHBORHOOD REGENERATION IN A DECLINING CITY: THE CASE OF DETROIT Master’s Thesis Student: Edske Smit (3509982) Supervisor: Dr. Brian Doucet 2 UTRECHT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF GEOSCIENCES Master Thesis in Human Geography and Planning [Research] NEIGHBORHOOD REGENERATION IN A DECLINING CITY: THE CASE OF DETROIT By Edske Smit, BSc Supervised by Dr. Brian Doucet 27 March, 2014 3 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 8 1.2 The case of Detroit .................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Aim of the study ...................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Research questions ................................................................................................. 9 1.5 Scientific relevance ............................................................................................... 10 1.6 Societal relevance ................................................................................................. 10 1.7 Design of the study ............................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Definitions .................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Side note on neighborhood regeneration ................................................................ 11 2.2 Chapter outline...................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Definitions ............................................................................................................. 11 2.3.1 Definition of neighborhood regeneration ................................................................. 11 2.3.2 Definition of gentrification .................................................................................... 11 2.4 Distinction between neighborhood regeneration and gentrification ...................... 11 2.5 Reflections on this research and Detroit................................................................ 12 2.6 Chapter summary .................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 3 Conceptualizing neighborhood change and neighborhood regeneration ........ 13 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Chapter outline...................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Conceptualizations of neighborhood change ......................................................... 13 3.3.1 Ecological school ................................................................................................. 13 3.3.2 Subcultural school ............................................................................................... 13 3.3.3 Political-economy school ...................................................................................... 14 3.4 Four points of critique ........................................................................................... 14 3.4.1 Oversimplification ............................................................................................... 14 3.4.2 Negligence of internal and external forces .............................................................. 14 3.4.3 Negligence of multiple geographical scales ............................................................. 15 3.4.4 Negligence of variations in the process of neighborhood regeneration and gentrification ................................................................................................................................. 15 3.5 Summary ............................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 4 Factors underlying neighborhood regeneration at city and neighborhood level ...................................................................................................................................... 17 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 17 4.2 Chapter outline...................................................................................................... 18 4.3 Factors underlying neighborhood regeneration at city level .................................. 18 4 4.4 Factors underlying neighborhood regeneration at neighborhood level .................. 18 4.5 Summary ............................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 5 Neighborhood regeneration in a declining city ............................................... 22 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 22 5.3 Problems caused by structural decline that constrain neighborhood regeneration at city level...................................................................................................................... 22 5.4 Alleviating the constraining problems at neighborhood level ................................ 24 5.5 Summary ............................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 6 Declining city: the case of Detroit .................................................................. 26 6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 26 6.2 Chapter outline...................................................................................................... 26 6.3 The structural decline of Detroit ............................................................................ 26 6.3.1 Dependence on a single industry ........................................................................... 26 6.3.2 Racial division ..................................................................................................... 27 6.3.3 Regional fragmentation ........................................................................................ 28 6.4 Problems posed by the structural decline that constrain neighborhood regeneration .................................................................................................................................... 28 6.4.1 Governance problems .......................................................................................... 28 6.4.2 Socio-economic problems ..................................................................................... 28 6.4.3 Crime and housing abandonment .......................................................................... 29 6.4.4 Quality of life and infrastructural problems ............................................................. 29 6.5 Summary ............................................................................................................... 29 Chapter 7 Method ........................................................................................................... 30 7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 30 7.2 Chapter outline...................................................................................................... 30 7.3 Citywide analysis .................................................................................................. 30 7.4 Neighborhood level analysis .................................................................................. 31 Chapter 8 Citywide analysis: mapping Detroit’s neighborhood dynamics ....................... 33 8.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 33 8.2 Outline .................................................................................................................. 33 8.3 Mapping neighborhood dynamics .......................................................................... 33 8.3.1 Mapping population dynamics ............................................................................... 33 8.3.2 Mapping household dynamics ............................................................................... 34 8.3.3 Mapping housing unit change................................................................................ 37 8.3.4 Mapping vacant housing change ............................................................................ 37 8.3.5 Mapping occupied housing unit change .................................................................. 38 8.3.6 Mapping average housing condition ....................................................................... 38 8.3.7 Mapping investment programs .............................................................................. 40 8.3.8 Racial changes .................................................................................................... 43 8.4 Generalized model of neighborhood dynamics .....................................................
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