This dissertation argues that urban neoliberal programs currently formulating in the Global South are unprecedented in historical México as well as in examined practices of gentrification and globalization. In this dissertation I specifically focus on the Programa de Rescate – an urban policy being amassed in México City’s Centro Histórico as a nexus of processes of gentrification, neoliberalization, and globalization. This work re-theorizes how gentrification functions when it is implemented in the Global South – as the neoliberalization of space.

This report examines how the neighborhoods along the Metro Blue line have changed over the past two decades, and reflects on the current emerging issue in Transit oriented development (TOD), which is promoting equitable transit neighborhoods. The primary study area includes the route of the Metro Blue line through Los Angeles County where the most economically disadvantaged and marginalized communities are located in the county. In order to investigate the impact of the rail line effectively, the concept of Walksheds are used as the units of analysis, which is defined as the area within a half-mile walking distance from the transit station. Focusing on social equity impact of the transit system operation, the comparison analysis between Los Angeles County and the twenty-two Walksheds of each station in the line evaluates the changes in the close-by neighborhoods while also looking at various social demographic indicators that can reflect demographic shifts using decennial Census data of 1990, 2000, and 2010. While looking at the change through time series data analysis vertically, the performance of each station area is examined horizontally. Therefore, comparative analysis is conducted in four stages to figure out the extent to which the neighborhoods have changed, how rapidly the change occurred and whether the neighborhood change occurred in a positive way or not. The result from the four comparative analyses indicates that the Metro Blue line did not work as a catalyst for promoting economic opportunity in the region in spite of the initial expectations of its advocates. In the beginning of the rail operation of 1990, the neighborhoods along the rail line were excluded and poverty was widespread in the region. However, even after two decades, the twenty-two Walksheds along the Metro Blue Line still remain as undesirable places to live and marginalized as compared to the rest of the county. Moreover, the neighborhood change in the twenty-two Walksheds is negatively linked to the Walksheds based on the result of the comparative analysis. / text

Before addressing how gentrification affects a community, there must be an explanation of how gentrification looks at a community. Tom Borrup in Protecting Cultural Space or Urban Re-colonization: When Do Cultural Districts Cross the Line? refers to cities as “cultural districts” and defines “progenitors” and “driving forces” (Borrup, 2015). Progenitors are “people who feel a sense of attachment to a neighborhood such as those who live, work, and operate small businesses there…often active in and integral to the formation of cultural districts and to the identity the community adopts” (Borrup, 2015). Based on Borrup’s definition of progenitors, this paper will identify residents, small businesses, property owners, non-profits and artists as progenitors of a community.

This thesis explores the burgeoning musical commerce industry in Williamsburg, Virginia between approximately 1716 to 1775. It especially focuses on the gentrification of this industry and the ways in which elite Virginians made use of music to establish themselves as inheritors of British culture and musical entertainment. A diversity of musical businesses appeared in Williamsburg during the eighteenth century, including instrument sellers, music and dancing teachers, and two theaters utilized by theatrical troupes, to name a few. Drawing on evidence from the Virginia Gazette, as well as journals, letters, playhouse reports, and account books, the thesis concludes that music provided an important means for the formation of an elite colonial identity in a time and place heavily influenced by an American consumer revolution and a desire for refinement.

This thesis will examine the effects of residential segregation, exclusionary zoning, and gentrification on low-income minorities in inner cities. The research will show the relationship between housing inequalities and institutional classism and racism. In addition, the research will examine the use of public policies and regulations that maintain the existing isolation and concentration of minorities and low-income families through disinvestment.

Os projetos de revitalização urbana possuem grande relevância para a gestão pública e são atualmente foco de discussões internacionais sobre como devem ser ajustados às necessidades de um mundo mais veloz, globalizado e capaz de proporcionar uma melhoria de qualidade de vida à sociedade civil. Cidades como São Paulo que possuem um urbanismo complexo e um centro comercial dinâmico e forte, exigem uma gestão pública que acompanhe seu ritmo e que supra as necessidades e expectativas urbanas de uma sociedade civil acostumada a realizar negócios com o mundo inteiro e a um alto nível de eficiência. Estudos e pesquisas estão sendo realizados pelo governo para compreender quais as tendências visionárias que precisam ser consideradas em um modelo de gestão pública para atender ao público atual e suas expectativas em relação à cidade, porém as deficiências na estrutura gerencial prejudica a identificação de como estas mudanças podem ser realizadas na prática. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo propor uma estrutura de gerenciamento de projetos de revitalização urbana identificando as melhorias e ajustes que podem ser realizados em uma estrutura existente, considerando a inclusão de novos conceitos urbanos. A metodologia utilizada foi a comparação da estrutura da empresa pública de São Paulo, responsável pelo gerenciamento dos projetos de revitalização urbana, com a estrutura de gerenciamento de projetos do Guia PMBOK 5ª edição. Como resultado da aplicação da metodologia foi possível reconhecer e organizar um conjunto de ações fundamentais para abrigar o desenvolvimento de projetos de revitalização urbana em geral e, em especial, nos órgãos que tem essa função na cidade de São Paulo, de forma que os capacite a servir de forma eficiente aos seus propósitos, podendo também ser replicados a outras escalas de cidades e empresas. / Urban Renewal Projects (URP) have a great relevance in public management and are currently the focus of international discussions and debates on how they should be planned and adjusted to the needs of a faster, more dynamic, and more integrated world, and also capable of providing a better quality of life for civil society. Cities like São Paulo which have a complex urban planning and are a strong and important business centre, require a public administration as efficient as its environment. Researches are being carried out by the government to identify the new urban concepts and trends that must be part of their public management model, but the weaknesses in management structure affect the identification of how these changes can be realized in practice. Thus, this work aims at developing a urban renewal project management structure by identifying improvements and adjustments that can be performed on an existing structure, also incorporating new urban concepts. The methodology used was a comparison of São Paulo`s public company structure, responsible for the urban renewals projects management, with the structure of project managent PMBOK Guide, 5th edition. As a result of the application of the methodology was possible to recognize and organize a list of key actions for the development of URP`s structure in gereneral and, in particular, in the bodies that have that function in São Paulo, in order to enable them to efficiently serve their purposes , and can be replicated to other scales of cities and company.

Social mix is a highly contested global trend in urban planning as it can result in some of the same negative social consequences as gentrification, such as displacement and social polarization. In 2014, the City of Vancouver approved a social mix strategy for one of its low-income neighbourhoods in their Downtown Eastside (DTES) Local Area Plan (LAP). With this plan, the city aimed to increase mid- and high-income residents in a predominately low-income neighbourhood. Included were Social Impact Objectives to mitigate harm to existing low-income residents, and assurances the approach would benefit all community members. The LAP provoked questions of whether social mix could, indeed, benefit low-income residents. This qualitative single-case research study investigates the experiences of residents with low incomes in the DTES neighbourhood, three years after the implementation of the LAP. The study is grounded in an anti-oppressive framework, with attention to anti-colonization and the unique experiences at the intersection of gender and colonial oppression. Three key findings emerged from neighbourhood observations and semi-structured focus groups conducted in 2017 with twenty-four research participants. First, experiences of displacement in the DTES were reported; second, experiences of social polarization within their neighbourhood were described; and, third, most participants demonstrated strong community connections despite the social mix changes. The findings suggest low-income residents did not benefit from social mix and, if further displacement and polarization were to continue, the negative impact on low-income residents would increase. / Graduate

London 2012 was the 30th Olympiad, and the third time that London had hosted an Olympic Games. The rationale for hosting the Games was to undertake a large-scale regeneration of Stratford and the East London region. The research explored the experiences of community representatives who live and/or work in East London. The research was inductive and focused on the empirical findings of the research via a sociological lens. Three overarching research themes (urban regeneration, socioculturalism, governance and economics). The original contribution to knowledge relates to the limited amount of research previously conducted which take into account all three of these overarching themes. 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed alongside official documents and newspapers using narrative thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis. Two main findings emerged from the analysis; Marginal Gains and the Ripple Effect. It is recognised that the positivity found throughout the presented narratives may have been present due to the time period in which the research was undertaken. Future research should focus on whether the time period has an influence on the experiences of community representatives and whether similar (economic and governance) is experienced by future host cities.

The economic impact of legalized marijuana has been massive, but does legal marijuana have the impact to create new types of urban spaces? The legalization of formerly illicit vices has created urban spaces thematically constructed around vice, such as The Strip in Las Vegas (gambling) or The Wallen in Amsterdam (prostitution). This paper suggests that legalized marijuana similarly has the potential to construct vice-themed urban spaces in a post-industrial economic paradigm defined by consumption. Using Denver’s South Broadway (an urban area that has been rebranded as “The Green Mile” due to the outgrowth of marijuana businesses in the area) as the foundation for the analysis, this paper uses qualitative methodologies including historical and content analysis and interviews to examine how marijuana becomes normalized through legalization and resituated for mass consumption, in turn creating the possibility for the construction of thematic urban spaces.

In this thesis, I discuss the Tampa Heights Greenprinting Initiative, an initiative to build community in a gentrifying neighborhood. I was primarily hired to find out what changes residents of Tampa Heights desired in their chosen park, observe the Greenprinting process, and write a report that could be used in future initiatives. Due to my Anthropological training, I paid attention to the wider context associated with this project. I paid as much attention to who was not there as I did to who was there. The applied nature of my program enabled me to not only document the socio-economic factors that affected the project, but to say something at the time of the project, so that change could be implemented. Research questions involved trying to figure out how residents envision their neighborhood park, as well as the broader question of how the socioeconomic situation in Tampa Heights affects the Tampa Heights Greenprinting Initiative. I asked whether a park revitalization could lead to residents uniting across various boundaries, and if so, how. I discovered that the Tampa Heights Greenprinting process highlighted some of the socioeconomic tensions in Tampa Heights. These tensions are related to the current status of the neighborhood as a gentrifying area. Perhaps, as a result of the Greenprinting process, residents will recognize that to truly build a cohesive community, they must address the implications of gentrification, outside investment (instead of community-rooted investment), the possible demolition of Robles Park Housing Village, and the lack of youth programs in their community.