CURA Graduate Affiliate Michael Webb will be defending his dissertation next week. A public presentation will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2013, from 3:30-4:30 PM in Derby 1186.

Title: Urban Revitalization, Urban Regimes, and Contemporary Gentrification Processes

The urban scene has undergone significant changes in the past twenty years, as gentrification and similar patterns of upward neighborhood change have become increasingly prevalent.  Meanwhile, there exists an increasing recognition that the processes underlying such change have been in transition over the past decades.  This dissertation investigates the formal and informal arrangements undergirding contemporary processes of upward neighborhood change, which I term urban revitalization.  It argues that revitalization occurs at the nexus of coalition (or regime)-style governance and ‘classic’ gentrification where change is driven by neighborhood regimes, largely informal coalitions that bring together representatives from the public, private, and civic sectors.  Revitalization does not occur within a vacuum, however, and the dissertation situates contemporary neighborhood change dynamics within a conceptual framework that moves from broad economic-social-political organization to on-the-ground realities, where higher, more abstract tiers set limits and possibilities on subjacent levels.  The research utilizes a mixed-method approach and situates itself in three Columbus, Ohio, neighborhoods, two of which have witnessed the emergence of neighborhood regimes:  Weinland Park, King-Lincoln, and Olde Towne East.  Results indicate that the rise of the cognitive-cultural economy and consumer cities, along with demographic and cultural transitions, have fomented a new vitality for the CBD and surrounding areas.  Coupled with ongoing shifts toward entrepreneurial governance, this has led to the current era of revitalization.  Further, trends in community development (strategic geographic targeting) foundation giving (smart philanthropy), and greater institutional involvement in surrounding neighborhoods, have encouraged a more placed-based approach from the public and civic spheres, which has, in turn, facilitated the rise of neighborhood regimes.