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Abstract
This dissertation examines the differences between improving inner-city communities and those that continue to decline. It identifies the conditions necessary to enable certain economically distressed neighborhoods to attract private investment and improve the economic well-being of their current residents. It addresses these issues by focusing on changes that have occurred in the past 20 years in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. It illustrates the regional and national factors that affect urban development as well as the specific local characteristics (institutions, social capital, leadership, etc.) that impact revitalization.
Drawing upon other conceptions of local change, the study defines revitalization as the improvement of economic conditions for existing residents and the re-integration of the neighborhood into the market system. This new definition provides the basis for an index of revitalization that measures economic conditions in individual communities. Changes in the index scores serve as the dependent variable in a quantitative analysis of revitalization, which finds that a community's location relative to the central business district and the presence of community organizations are associated with positive local change. The effect of other social, demographic, and physical factors vary across communities. Neighborhoods in different areas generally change at different rates, at different times, for different reasons.
Comparative ethnographic case studies of two very low-income communities shed more light on the mechanisms of neighborhood change. Local institutions such as banks, private businesses, and community development corporations help generate market activity in a community. Social capital--developed and enhanced by churches, social service agencies, and influential individuals--proves crucial for building the trust necessary for long-term financial and human investment. These local characteristics prove instrumental in attracting private investment to the area, but have limited effect in improving economic conditions for existing residents.
