by Jackelyn Hwang, Harvard FAS, Department of Sociology. （Presentation Slides Download)
Date: Wednesday, November 12th, Noon - 1:00
Location: Room S450, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St.
Abstract: Gentrification has inspired considerable debate, but direct examination of its uneven evolution across time and space is rare. We address this gap by developing a conceptual framework on the social pathways of gentrification. To assess our framework, we introduce a method of systematic social observation using Google Street View to detect visible cues of neighborhood change. We develop and assess a neighborhood-level measure of gentrification. Integrating census data, police records, prior street-level observations, community surveys, proximity to amenities, and city budget data on capital investments, we find that the pace of gentrification in Chicago from 2007 to 2009 was negatively associated with the concentration of blacks and Latinos in neighborhoods that either showed signs of gentrification or were adjacent and still disinvested in 1995. Racial composition has a threshold effect, however, attenuating gentrification when the share of blacks in a neighborhood is greater than 40 percent. We also find that collective perceptions of disorder, which are higher in poor minority neighborhoods, deter gentrification, while observed disorder does not. These results help explain the reproduction of neighborhood racial inequality amid urban transformation in Chicago. We extend the method to recent Google Street View images in Seattle and Chicago to examine factors shaping gentrification trajectories in new contexts.
Bio: Jackelyn Hwang is a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard University and a Doctoral Fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality and Social Policy. Her research interests are in the areas of urban sociology, race and ethnicity, inequality, and immigration. Her projects examine how racial and ethnic inequality influences and is influenced by gentrification and the housing crisis in U.S. cities.
Lunch will be provided.
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